


Magic and Monsters

by WhatATimeWhatAmIDoing



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alphynecentric, F/F, Friendship, I don't think anyone's done this before, Slow Burn, undertale hp au, we'll see where this goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:32:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5740306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatATimeWhatAmIDoing/pseuds/WhatATimeWhatAmIDoing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An Undertale Harry Potter AU. Alphys is just getting started with her first year at Hogwarts, and is eager but a little nervous to see where this adventure will take her. But with a little luck, a few friends, and a lot of magic, everyone will make it through this first year in one piece. Probably.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Begining

Well, it seemed as though this was it.

Alphys followed the crowd of humans and monsters through King’s Cross Station, her parents trailing behind her. She didn’t like crowds, not one bit. She wasn’t a very tall monster, and as a result, she got knocked this way and that extremely easily. Her parents, however, were much taller, and didn’t face the same fate. Usually she went behind them, but she figured that if she was going to be without them at Hogwarts, she ought to get use to crowds on her own. She didn’t like it much.

Alphys had gotten her letter admitting her to Hogwarts a couple of months ago, and had felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension. It certainly explained the…odd behavior that she had exhibited when she was younger. Alphys didn’t really make friends easily, so she wasn’t eager to go off on her own to some place where she didn’t know anybody. More than anything, though, she wanted to master magic. She was a bit afraid of her powers, and had nearly jumped out of her skin when the wand at Ollivander’s—olive wood with a unicorn hair core—flew off of the shelf and into her hands. After living a life with only rumors of those who possessed magic, it was all a bit hard to get used to. Her parents seemed relatively nonplused by the whole situation. While Alphys had met Diagon Alley with a mixture of fear and excitement--shying away from the broomstick demonstrations but observing the cauldrons and potions with interest—her parents had maintained a determinedly neutral expression throughout. She figured that they were just doing it for her sake. They must have known she wasn’t exactly confident about the whole situation.

After months of preparing, a few panic attacks, and some heartfelt hugs, they had made it to King’s Cross Station on the day of her departure. After some trepidation, the three of them dashed through the barrier onto platform 9 ¾. The crowd had diminished slightly, and the number of humans had gone down significantly, with the group mostly composed of monsters and their families now. Alphys had read something about monsters being more likely to possess magic—something about the composition of their souls, but she didn’t really understand all of that stuff yet. Everyone seemed to be bidding their families farewell, and Alphys turned to do the same. Her father bent down to give her a hug, taking care to make sure the spikes that rimmed his face like stubble didn’t scrape her cheek or shoulder.

“Have a great time at school, sweetie.” The tall golden lizard rumbled cheerily, releasing her to gently lay a hand on her shoulder. Her mother, a slightly smaller, bronze lizard that resembled more of a gecko, gave her a gentle hug as well.  
“Stay safe, alright? You’ll do great. We love you.” They gave her wide smiles, and Alphys offered a small one in return. She had less confidence in herself, but maybe they were right. Maybe she’d be fine.  
“I love you guys too.” There seemed to be a brief beat of calm, a moment where everything was quiet and alright. Then her father turned to put her luggage in the luggage compartment, and she took a deep breath. Suddenly the steps to board the train seemed like a mountain. Taking one last look at her smiling parents, she climbed aboard. It seemed like she was early, since there were plenty of empty compartments. She decided to go with the closest one, as it seemed quiet and empty. 

She had put all of her books in her other luggage, so at the moment, there wasn’t much to do. She reached into the pocket of her robes and pulled out her phone, deciding to play a quick trivia game.  
She was only a few minutes into her game when a voice made her look up.  
“Excuse me, darling, but do you mind if we sit here?” Alphys was met with the sight of two ghosts, one who seemed to be hiding behind the other. The one in front was wearing a set of ghostly black robes with pink trimming, while the other wore a slightly more tattered set with blue trimming. Alphys wasn’t sure if they could sit at all, but decided that she didn’t mind the company. She ought to start making friends now, she supposed.  
“N-Not at all!” She said, inwardly cursing her stutter. They didn’t seem to notice or care, however, the two of them floating next to each other above the chair across from her.  
“thanks…” The one with the blue robes said, meeting her eye for only a moment before fixing their gaze firmly on the table.  
“So nice of you!” The other one said, a grin on their incorporeal face. “What did you say your name was?”  
Alphys hadn’t actually said her name yet, but decided not to point that out.  
“I’m, um, Alphys. Nice to meet you.” Alphys said, offering the two of them a shy smile in return.  
“Alphys! What a lovely name. I’m Mettablook---but please call me Metta--and this here is my cousin, Napstablook.” The pink robed ghost replied.  
“nice to meet you…” Napstablook added, sounding like he wasn’t sure if it was nice to meet her at all.  
“So, Alphys, how did you find out that you were a witch? Everyone’s stories are just so fascinating.” Mettablook asked, sounding interested. Alphys stiffened, recalling pained moans and groans, and the melted forms of—  
“Hah, nothing interesting really happened to me…I just got my letter in the mail, and I figured I had magical powers! R-regular boring stuff.” She replied hastily, concealing her sweaty hands underneath the table.  
“Oh, well that’s certainly something. Blooky and I, we had just finished enjoying a lovely ghost sandwich and were lying on the ground, and suddenly everything looked like a gigantic galaxy! We didn’t know what it was until we got our letters. Blooky here has quite the talent for illusions.” Napstablook seemed to lighten up a bit at the praise, and Mettablook was grinning more than ever.

They made some small talk before a whistle sounded. “i guess the train is leaving now…” Napstablook observed quietly. After talking with the cousins for a while, the quieter ghost was a bit more comfortable with Alphys’s presence, which she was glad of. Mettablook was nice too, if a bit dramatic at times. Maybe she wasn’t going to be completely alone at this new school after all. The three of them fell silent once the train left the station, observing the city as it whizzed by and then the ensuing countryside. After a while, Mettablook decided to start up the conversation once more.  
“So, Alphys, what house do you think you’ll—“  
“EXCUSE US, TRAINGOERS!” Two figures dashed past the doorway, robes flying behind them.  
“Hold on, food cart, we’re coming!” A different voice yelled. Mettablook scoffed.  
“Some people have no patience. Or taste.” Alphys didn’t mind the disruption too much, though perhaps that was just because she wasn’t in the way of the runners.  
“Anyways, Alphys, as I was saying, what house do you think you’ll be in? Of course, they’re quite integrated nowadays, so it doesn’t matter as much as it used to, but still, what do you think?” Alphys shrugged.  
“I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it much.” She admitted.  
“Well, I hope we end up in the same house. Or at least the same classes.” Mettablook continued.  
“Yeah, me too.” Alphys agreed.  
“it might be nice to have some classes with you…or something…” Napstablook added, and the lizard gave him a small smile. 

The moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. Mettablook looked surprised.  
“Strange. I didn’t hear anyone walk down here.” Alphys opened the door to see a squat skeleton wearing a blue hoodie underneath his robes. He had a calm grin on his face as he regarded the three of them, hands in his pockets.  
“hey. you guys haven’t seen a fish lady and a tall skeleton run by, have you?” He asked in a voice that sounded like he was about to yawn.  
“If you mean the two people running for the food cart, then yes.” Mettablook replied. The skeleton nodded.  
“that’d be them. thanks. i guess someone will have to do something about that.” He stepped out of the cart and turned to walk in the opposite direction, closing the door behind him. Mettablook looked peeved, and stuck his head out through (literally through, since he was a ghost) to yell,  
“Hey! Get back here and—“ He pulled his head back in, looking puzzled. “Hm. He’s gone. Odd.” Settling back down to a few inches above his seat, he offered Alphys and Napstablook a smile.  
“Well, I guess we’d better settle in. We’ve still got a while until we get to Hogwarts.”  
Alphys nodded, looking back out the window to the cloudy sky and green countryside, wondering what would await her when the train inevitably stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This was just an idea I had a little while ago, since I figured that if monsters have magic, then why not do a harry potter au? I figured it would make sense, sort of. Anyways, I don't know exactly where this is going yet, but I'm excited to see how it will work out. If you like it, please let me know, and if you have any constructive criticism, let me know that as well! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!


	2. The Sorting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys makes some new friends, and learns what house she'll be placed in.

Alphys ended up having a lovely time on the train. She learned that Mettablook and Napstablook lived next door to each other, and that Mettablook had wanted to become an actor in musicals before being turned away for his ghostly form.  
“Can you believe that? Blatant discrimination. They said that I wasn’t fit to do the dance moves because I didn’t have any legs.” He scoffed, so perturbed by the memory that he sank partially into his seat in a huff. Alphys wasn’t entirely certain what to say to this.  
“Can’t ghosts possess objects and control those?” She asked after a few moments of consideration. Mettablook nodded.  
“Yes. But if we experience intense emotion, we can become bound to that corporeal form. And I just haven’t found a body that I like yet.” He explained. “One of our other cousins, Madstablook, decided to inhabit a training dummy. He’s just called Mad Dummy now.” The ghost recalled.  
“M-maybe someone could make you a body…then you could tell them how to make it, and it would turn out just the way you want.” Mettablook seemed to brighten up, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. His previous scowl was replaced with a hopeful expression, and he seemed to brighten a few shades of translucent pink. Alphys wondered if the ghost’s expressions were tied to their colors somehow. If that was the case, her words seemed to have the opposite effect on Napstablook, who, at all this talk of Mettablook getting a solid body, had darkened to an aquamarine blue color.  
“I never thought of that! That would be spectacular, wouldn’t it, Blooky?” Mettablook replied cheerily, rising up out of his seat, no longer sulking. Napstablook turned away to face the window.  
“yeah…really great.” He replied in his usual monotone, though he seemed more morose than usual. Worried that she had already upset her companion, Alphys decided to switch conversation topics.

“So, do, um, you guys think you’ll like Hogwarts?” The timid lizard asked. Mettablook nodded enthusiastically.  
“Of course! Magic is just so intriguing. I’ve heard you can learn to transform things into something else with just a wave of your wand, and even change their color! Just think of it! I could buy out of style clothes and transform them into trends in a flash!” Alphys wondered how a ghost could even wear clothes—was there a ghost department store somewhere?—but she decided not to ask.  
“i want to know if there’s magic that makes music...” Napstablook commented, seeming a bit more cheered up now, though it was hard to tell with him.  
“Oh, I’m sure there is, Blooky. Do you think you’ll like it, Alphys, since you asked?” Mettablook inquired, fixing her with a surprisingly penetrating stare for a ghost. Alphys shrank underneath his gaze, suddenly filled with self-doubt.  
“I just want to learn how to, I dunno, not screw everything up. Though there’s probably not a spell for that.” She mumbled. “I’ve never been away from home before. I don’t even know if I’ll make any friends.” She added, gaze downcast.

“Of course you’ll make friends, darling! You’ve got two right here!” Mettablook proclaimed dramatically. Alphys looked up to see him beaming, and Napstablook offered her a small smile, too. Suddenly, this whole ‘leaving home and learning magic’ thing didn’t seem so intimidating. She offered them a shaky smile of her own, before the train was filled with the sounds of the compartment doors opening all at once, including their own.  
“Oh! I suppose it must be time to get off.” Mettablook observed, peeking his head out into the hallway and seeing monsters and humans alike getting out of their seats. He turned back to Alphys with an apologetic expression on his face.  
“We put our luggage in the back of the train, and I’m not sure if they know how to get out ghost suitcases. So we should get going. But it was lovely talking to you, and I’m sure we’ll see each other at the sorting!” Without waiting for her to respond, he floated out of the door and into the crowd, leaving Alphys and Napstablook behind.  
“bye…I guess…” Napstablook said, and Alphys gave him a little wave as he followed his effervescent cousin. Alphys decided that she might as well join the crowd and start heading to Hogwarts.

“Howdy! Mind your step, now!” A deep but cheery voice rumbled. As Alphys stepped off the train, she was met with the sight of a tall, broad-shouldered, bearded goat monster with massive horns directing the crowd. He had a friendly smile on his face and waved to everyone as they passed by. He directed them towards a dark lake, the shore dotted with several wooden boats accompanied with their own lantern. The sun had just set, leaving the intimidating silhouette of a castle framed against the deep purple sky. Alphys supposed that that had to be Hogwarts.  
She made her way towards the shore, feeling a bit lost. Everyone seemed to be sticking with the friends they had made on the train, so she was a bit of an outsider. The boats seemed to be leaving of their own accord once there were 4 students on it. She spotted the short skeleton from before with the fish monster and taller skeleton he had described, and considered getting a ride with them, before an armless monster with a striped shirt on underneath their robe hopped in the boat with them.

Alphys was left unsure of what to do before she felt a gentle tap on her arm.  
“Excuse me? Miss?” Alphys turned around to see a small goat monster (who seemed to resemble the goat directing traffic, though much younger) smiling up at her. He wasn’t that much shorter than her, with his head at her shoulder, but even that height made him seem much younger than her. He had a green and yellow striped shirt on underneath his robe, and despite the fact that his expression was cheerful, he had worry in his eyes.  
“Have you seen a human with a shirt just like mine wandering around? I think I’ve lost one of my siblings…” Alphys shook her head, and he sighed. “Well, thanks anyway.” He replied, seeming crestfallen, before the aforementioned human ran out of the crowd to stand next to him. The small goat brightened up immediately. “Chara!” He exclaimed happily. “Great! Now we can go.” He turned to leave, before turning once more to face Alphys again. “Hey, do you want to come with us? We have an extra seat in the boat.” Alphys nodded, relieved. The small monster grinned. “Great! Let’s go.”

The goat, the human with his matching shirt, and another human with a blue and purple striped shirt all hopped in a boat, Alphys following them. “Oh, I haven’t even introduced myself yet! I’m Asriel, this is Chara, and this is Frisk.” The goat introduced himself, gesturing to the human who had been missing, and the human with the blue and purple shirt. Chara nodded politely, a somewhat vacant grin on their face, and Frisk gave them a wave.  
“So, what’s your name?” He asked cheerily.  
“I’m Alphys. I-it’s nice to meet you.” She replied with a small smile. They chatted a little on their way to the boat. She learned that Asriel and Chara were the adopted children of the headmaster and headmistress, and that the reason that there were two heads of the school was because “My mom is better at teaching and official business, but my dad’s so much better at making speeches and dealing with troublemakers.” She also learned that they had split up some time ago, and Frisk was the adopted child of the headmistress alone.

“So we’re all one big happy family! That’s what my dad likes to say about Hogwarts, too, though that family’s much bigger.” Asriel explained. He had done most of the talking during the trip, with Alphys and Frisk being content to listen and Chara interjecting a word or two here and there. As the castle loomed in front of them and the shore approached, Asriel stopped talking. “Wow! I must have been chatting your ear off. Sorry! I’ve got to talk to my dad about something, so I’ll see you later!” He gave Alphys a friendly wave and bounded away to talk to the bearded goat, his siblings trailing after him after giving the lizard their own gesture of goodbye.  
Alphys made her way to the castle herself, up the winding road until she finally entered the great hall. Its majesty was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. The walls were a rosy gold, and candles and balls of fire floated in the air, high above the students’ heads. It was almost like a cathedral. There were 4 massive tables packed with people, and a table at the head of the hall with who she presumed to be teachers sitting at it.

Alphys took a deep breath and took her first step into Hogwarts. Well, she was here now. No turning back. Just as she was wondering where to sit, she heard a voice.  
“Alphys, darling, over here!” Alphys turned to see Mettablook and Napstablook hovering near the middle of one of the tables. “We saved a seat for you!” She gratefully walked over to them and sat down, glad to be among friends instead of surrounded by strangers. The chatter in the great hall suddenly died, and the stocky goat monster from before, as well as one in a purple dress with smaller horns stepped forward to the podium.  
“Hello, everyone. I am Toriel, your headmistress.” The smaller goat spoke first, a patient smile on her face. “I hope that in these coming months you will come to think of Hogwarts not as a school, but as a home. We have worked hard to make sure your curriculum is as educational as it is fun. Of course, learning comes first, but we all want you to make friends and enjoy your time here as much as possible.”  
She stepped aside and was met with some raucous applause. The larger, bearded goat monster stepped up next once the clapping died down.  
“Howdy, everyone! My name is Asgore Dreemurr, and I am your headmaster. Toriel already said most of the stuff I wanted to say, so I’ll go ahead and tell you what’s about to happen.

All of you are going to be sorted into one of four houses—Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. All of them represent different values, but of course, this doesn’t dictate what your time at school will be like. Ever since the war of humans and monsters, we have done our best to integrate both species as well as all houses. You may sit at whatever house table you like, and while we encourage houses to stick to house dorms for simplicity’s sake, you may sleep wherever you like as well. It shouldn’t matter what house you’re in, you should be able to make friends wherever you like.  
Without further ado, the sorting hat!” He gestured to Toriel once more, who had walked off and was now returning with a stool and tattered hat. There was applause once more, and then the hat began to sing.

“Monsters and humans and others alike  
Must keep their heads, and must not strike  
At each other or at their own kind  
All must keep a civil mind

A time is coming when things will change  
Actions, events, matters most strange  
Will all arise to test you all  
Throughout all this, we cannot fall

When fear rises, we must stay strong  
All wishing together cannot be wrong  
Just stay alert, and do not fear  
Heed my warnings, and hope will be near.”

Everyone clapped once more—Alphys’s hands were starting to hurt—and they began calling out names.  
“Alphys!” Of course she had to be first. Well, her name did start with an A.  
“Knock ‘em dead, darling!” Mettablook whispered as she got out of her chair. She stepped forward with shaky paws, and almost tripped over her own feet several times. She sat down on the chair, and the hat descended over her head. Suddenly, a voice resonated in her head.  
“There’s plenty of bravery here…do not scoff at me, child, I can see it for myself…definitely cunning, though not the kind for Slytherin. There’s plenty of loyalty here as well. But what you value most is…knowledge. Then it’s settled.

Ravenclaw!” Alphys stood up shakily, walking back to her chair. Mettablook gave her a grin, and Napstablook smiled as well, though it was much less prominent.  
“Asriel!” The small goat made his way up to the chair. The hat had only been on his head for a moment before it yelled out, “Hufflepuff!” He walked back to his seat with a huge grin on his face, and Alphys could see Frisk giving him a thumbs up. Several more names were called before Alphys heard another that she recognized.  
“Chara!” Chara strode up with a confident grin, and was subsequently sorted into Slytherin. Later, when Frisk was called, they were placed into Gryffindor. Mettablook was called up much later, and was sorted into Slytherin.

“Well, looks like we won’t be in the same house, darling. Sorry about that.” He said when he hovered back to his seat.  
“I-it’s okay. We’ll still see each other, probably.” Alphys replied. When Napstablook was called up, they were sorted into Hufflepuff, and as Alphys and Mettablook congratulated, she was quietly worrying that nobody would be a Ravenclaw like her. The name Papyrus was called, and she recognized the tall skeleton that had been in the boat with the shorter skeleton. He raced up there with anticipation, and was quickly sorted into Hufflepuff. Much later, the shorter skeleton was called up, and the hat called out “Ravenclaw!”

Alphys was relieved. At least she knew that one…sort of. They weren’t a complete stranger, at least. Finally, the last name on the list was called, Undyne. The fish monster who had accompanied the short and tall skeletons bounded forwards, and was immediately sorted into Gryffindor.  
“That’s it!” Asgore called out with a grin. “Now, I hope you all enjoy this feast, prepared by our lovely kitchen staff.” Thousands of spiders scurried out from an open trapdoor in the center of the hall, all bearing various types of food—cider, donuts, pie, quiche, spaghetti—and the students subsequently dug in. They even had ghost sandwiches for Mettablook and Napstablook.

“Well, this was a successful evening!” Mettablook replied cheerily. “I’m stuffed.” Alphys wasn’t sure how a ghost could be stuffed, but she simply nodded.  
“Well, I’m going to go turn in. I want to see what my room will be like. I’m sure I’ll have several stylistic choices to make.” Indeed, it seemed as though everyone was trailing off to their house dorms. Napstablook bade a short farewell to Alphys as well before departing, and Alphys decided to follow the squat skeleton to the Ravenclaw dorm, wherever it was. Even after a day like that, it seemed as though her adventures at Hogwarts were only just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much positive feedback so far! Thank you very much! I hope that as this continues you'll continue to enjoy it!  
> I wasn't planning on doing another one of these for a week, but I had some free time and figured why not? This one turned out a little longer than I planned too, but I suppose that's not a bad thing. If you like it, please let me know, and if you have any constructive criticism, please let me know that to! As usual, thanks for reading and have a great day.


	3. A New Roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys meets her new roommate, and receives a harsh reminder of why she came to Hogwarts. Also, Sans likes hotdogs.

Alphys followed the crowd of Ravenclaws, feeling a little uncomfortable. As much as she tried to stick to the back of them, she ended up getting jostled around until she was somewhere in the middle of the group. It was rather uncomfortable. She had had enough of crowds for one day. They were being led by what appeared to be a large snail, which explained why the crowd was jostling so much. While he was fast for a snail, it was still slow enough to make everyone antsy. After tripping and almost impaling herself on a horned frog monster, she decided to hang back again, deciding that safety was preferred to fitting in.

Alphys couldn’t help but be fascinated by the school. Stairs moved and shifted beneath her feet, and instead of being lit with the usual fluorescent lights, there were torches everywhere. Odd, considering they certainly had the ability to install lights, but she assumed that it was magical fire, since it didn’t give off any smoke. Of course, that was probably her overanalyzing something that didn’t really need to be looked into. Looking around with a mixture of anxiety and awe, she noticed that the paintings appeared to be alive. Some were sleeping, some were interacting with other parts of their portraits, and some…were staring at her and the other Ravenclaws. She could do without that bit. It felt like they were judging her for…something. If only they knew.

“We have arrived!” The snail proclaimed, after a particularly long flight of stairs up a winding tower. The Ravenclaws were met with a massive door with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. Another monster stepped up and used the knocker, as the snail couldn’t quite do it, considering he had no arms. The eagle seemed to ruffle its feathers, and Alphys did a double take when it began to speak.  
“What is the very essence of a being?”  
The snail seemed relieved to have, as they whispered to their partner, “an easy one.”  
“A soul!” They proclaimed dramatically.  
“Correct.” The door swung open, and Alphys was met with the sight of a room that looked relatively similar to a planetarium she had once visited. It was a large, circular room, with dark blue carpeting and a ceiling painted with stars.  
“Welcome to the Ravenclaw common room! Feel free to invite friends from other houses in here, though mind that you don’t make too much of a mess in the morning, since the spiders don’t clean until late at night.” The thought of thousands of spiders cleaning the room was an odd one, but not one that frightened Alphys very much. She was a relatively timid person, but spiders had never really bothered her. She supposed that they must be the same spiders that brought them dinner, but decided not to comment on it.

“To enter the common room, the door will tell you a riddle, and you must answer it correctly. Otherwise, you’ll have to ask someone else for help.” The snail continued, making his slow way over to a massive statue at the far end of the room of a tall, birdlike monster. There were two staircases on either side of the statue, and once the snail reached the statue, he stopped and turned his head to face the group.

“These are the dorms! Unlike in the past, they are co-ed now. However, there is a jinx on the sheets so that if there are two monsters or people lying on one bed for more than 5 minutes, both parties will be thrown bodily onto the floor. So no funny business.” He fixed them with a stern glare. “You can choose to sleep in whichever empty dorm you like. Four to a dorm, no extras unless you arrange it with Toriel, our head of house. Now, get to bed. You’ve all got a full day tomorrow. Oh, and about your luggage—the spiders will bring your bags to your dorm sometime during the night, so you can unpack then.”

Everyone dispersed up one of the two stairs, and Alphys made the mistake of spending time looking for the squat skeleton before she realized he was already gone. She didn’t know him well—or at all, really—but she wasn’t excited at the prospect of bunking with a complete and absolute stranger. Well, it seemed that she’d have no other choice. Taking a deep breath, she climbed up the left staircase, and…was met with full dorm after full dorm. Everyone else had already arranged their own dorms quickly, and there were no extra beds to be seen. Losing hope, she climbed up the last flight of stairs to see only one monster in the top dorm. Surprisingly enough, it was the skeleton from earlier. He was staring out of the window, seemingly lost in thought.

“Er…hi.” Alphys said, a little uncomfortable. He didn’t jump, but was clearly a bit surprised to see her.  
“hey.” He said, offering her a grin. “looking for a place to pitch your tent?” He asked. “i’m afraid it’s a little packed right now. maybe if you make a reservation, you can come back in a month.” He joked, gesturing to the empty room. Alphys cracked a tiny smile, not entirely certain what to say. The skeleton seemed to note that she was feeling a bit awkward, and decided to continue without a response. “well, what’s mine is yours, compadre. i’m sans. good to know ya.” After introducing himself, he stuck out his hand. Alphys took it, and jumped back when she heard a loud farting noise come from where she had touched him. His grin grew a bit wider.  
“the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny. i didn’t mean to give you a heart attack, though. sorry about that.”  
“N-No, don’t worry about it. I’m just a little jumpy.” Alphys replied, waving her paw in a dismissive gesture. “I’m Alphys. I-it’s nice to meet you.” She added, feeling a little more relaxed. She shouldn’t have gotten so scared at just a simple whoopee cushion…already she felt the self-doubt creeping up again. Sans collapsed backwards onto the bed nearest to the door, oblivious to Alphys’s inner turmoil.

“so, you can take any bed here. i heard we didn’t have many new ravenclaws this year, so i think it’ll be just us in this room.” Alphys sat down bed next to his, closer to the window. It was quite small, little more than a slit in the wall, but had a nice, if limited, view of the grounds below.  
“T-that’s okay. I’m not the best at making friends anyways.” She confessed, fixing her gaze on her feet.  
“well, i don’t really know you. but you don’t seem terrible, so i’m sure that we’ll get along just fine. after some good food and bad laughs, we’ll be great roomies.” The skeleton replied with a yawn. “but in the meantime, i’m bushed. how about we take a rain check on this whole friends thing and get some shuteye.” Alphys nodded. Now that he mentioned it, she could almost feel her limbs getting heavier. It really had been a long day. Leaving her robe on (though it wasn’t like she had any pajamas to wear at the moment anyways) she curled up underneath the covers. Sans simply lay there on top of his blankets, and for a moment she considered asking if he was okay before she heard the sound of snoring. Well, if that was how he slept, so be it. She placed her wand on the night table next to her, closed her eyes, and drifted off into a blissfully dreamless sleep. At least, for the most part.

Around 7:30, the lizard’s eyes flew open. All of her covers had been kicked off, and she was breathing heavily. She had been hit with a nightmare—not even a long one, like most of her usual recurring dreams—but a short one. She was walking down a hallway, and paintings of cheerful monsters lined the walls. Suddenly, the paintings’ contents began to melt, and she began to run as they reached out from the walls and tried to grab her as she—Alphys shook her head, trying to clear it. This wasn’t the first time it had happened, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Noting the dim light that filtered through the window, she was glad that at least she had woken up at a reasonable hour.

Observing the rest of the room, she noted that all of her luggage, and what was presumably Sans’s, had been brought up. Checking for a sign of her roommate, she discovered that he was gone, but all of his sheets had been rolled up into a tight ball somehow. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she decided there was no point in trying to sleep any longer. She pulled out a shirt with cartoon cat emblazoned on the front, figuring that that would do for first day of school attire. Donning a new set of robes, she took her wand from the dresser and pocketed it before heading downstairs. She was surprised to see Sans at one of the tables in the common room, reading a book. Upon seeing her, he put it down and walked over to greet her.

“there you are. you seemed to be having a rough sleep when i woke up. you alright?” He asked. She nodded a little shakily.  
“I’m good. Just a bad dream.” She said, trying to reassure both him and herself. Sans nodded understandingly.  
“ah. that’s no fun. i would have woken you up, but last time i tried to wake up one of my friends from a nightmare, she almost punched me in the face.” He explained with a chuckle. Alphys offered an unsteady smile in return, glad that he wasn’t going to ask her what it was about.  
“so, about that good food i offered last night…you up for some breakfast in the great hall? i heard the great hall serves some great ‘dogs.” When Alphys fixed him with a confused look, the skeleton decided to explain.  
“yeah. apostrophe-dog. instead of saying hot dog.” Alphys was still confused.  
“W-why would you have a hot dog for breakfast?” She asked.  
“why not?” It was a fair point. They walked down the multitude of stairs together, finding that most of the halls were still empty due to how early it was. They didn’t talk much, though Alphys found that she enjoyed Sans’s company. He was friendly, and while sometimes she couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, he was a good companion nevertheless. When they reached the great hall, there were several students eating their breakfast, though none that Alphys recognized.

“hm. i thought i’d see my brother here. well, i’m sure he’ll come eventually.” Sans said with a shrug as they sat down at the Ravenclaw table. To her surprise, there was a whole plate of apostrophe-dogs there, as well as some toast for Alphys. Over the course of the meal, they all disappeared, though she didn’t see him open his mouth once. Strange. She decided not to question it, however. They were just discussing how many he might be able to balance on his head when Alphys heard her name.  
“Alphys, darling, there you are!” Mettablook was floating towards her, a smile on his spectral face. Almost like clockwork, a second later, a loud voice yelled,  
“SANS! YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE CONVERSATION I HAD WITH A PAINTING ON THE SECOND FLOOR!” The tall skeleton that was presumably Sans’s brother was standing across the hall from them, waving at Sans with vigor. Sans gave Alphys a wink.  
“well, time to hear something i apparently won’t believe. see you around.” Sans got up and walked towards his brother, leaving Mettablook confused.

“Who was that? Is that the skeleton we saw on the train?” He asked, settling down next to her. Alphys nodded.  
“He’s my r-roommate.” She added, taking another bite of toast. At the mention of roommates, Mettablook launched into an account of how he had met all of his roommates in Slytherin, and how well he was getting along with all of them.  
“There’s this one little fellow named Woshua, who’s very pleased with me, for some reason. He said it was something about how ghostly clothes don’t leave a mess.” Alphys nodded, smiling. Napstablook eventually hovered over to join them, and they managed to discover that he was actually quite happy with how nice everyone in Hufflepuff was. Alphys managed to spot Sans from across the room after trying to point him out to Napstablook, who didn’t remember who the skeleton was. Her roommate was seated next to his brother and the fish monster who had been sorted into Gryffindor. Strangely enough, Asriel, Chara, and Frisk had joined them as well. Perhaps they knew each other. She had just finished her toast when Headmaster Asgore waved at them from the head of the Great Hall, accompanied by Headmistress Toriel.  
“Everyone come here for your schedules! We’re going to pass them out.” His loud voice boomed. Alphys got out of her chair, heading towards the two with Mettablook taking the lead and Napstablook trailing behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad to see that everyone seems to still like the story! Thank you for the reception I have gotten so far, it's been great! I hope you guys liked this chapter. I wasn't entirely certain how to go about characterizing Sans, since I wanted him to remain relatively true to how I saw him the game, but I think I did alright. If you like the story and/or chapter, please let me know, and if you have any constructive criticism, I'd be more than happy to hear it!  
> As usual, thanks for reading and have a great day!


	4. Potions and Petting the dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Classes happen. Also, Undyne wins a bet.

Alphys made her way up to the front of the hall, though it was a bit chaotic. The schedules were compiled behind schedule, ironically enough, so there were only a few minutes to get to class after receiving one’s schedule.  
“OH MY GOODNESS!” Papyrus shouted after looking over the slip of paper, causing a nearby frog monster to cover his eardrums at the noise. “I HAVE TO GET ALL THE WAY TO HERBOLOGY! I MUST SET OFF AT ONCE!” He turned and sprinted away, before turning around and running the other way.  
“SANS! DO YOU KNOW WHERE HERBOLOGY IS?” Sans shrugged as he received his own schedule, apparently clueless himself. Asgore, hearing the ruckus, called out,  
“Herbology is in the greenhouses out on the grounds. But don’t worry about running there; I teach Herbology, so you won’t be late…” He trailed off. Papyrus had evidently stopped listening after the first sentence, and was running away at top speed, evidently still under the impression that he was going to be tardy. Asgore sighed and handed Mettablook his schedule just as Toriel called out,  
“Alphys, I have your schedule over here.” Alphys took it with shaky but eager hands. It seemed as though she didn’t have Herbology with Papyrus, but maybe she’d have other friends in other classes.  
“You have potions first?” Mettablook exclaimed from behind her, and Alphys jumped. He had apparently been looking over her shoulder. “So do I! Let’s head down together.” Alphys nodded. She looked around for Sans, but he had already disappeared again. Strange.

“i’ve got charms…i guess i should go…” Napstablook murmured from behind them. They didn’t seem too excited at the prospect, but they didn’t seem too excited about anything. Alphys and Mettablook bade them a farewell, then began heading down the long staircase to the dungeon. Most of the cauldrons were already full, but luckily, there was one right next to Sans, who was partnered with Chara. The skeleton offered a friendly wave while Chara gave a curt nod as the ghost and lizard sat down adjacent to them. After a brief pause, the door to the dungeon opened once more and a tall skeleton swept in. He was rather thin, and for a brief moment, Alphys wondered if he was related to Sans or Papyrus. She didn’t really want to ask, though.

“Good morning, students.” He said calmly, a slight grin on his face. “My name is Professor Gaster and I will be your potions teacher.  
Potions are a delicate skill. It is different than many other types of magic in many ways. For example, there will be no need for your wand in this class, since everything we do, we do by hand. Not only this, but it is more of a science than any other subject. You must take careful measurements and follow instructions carefully. When you fail—there is no shame in it, it happens to all of us—you must be able to say exactly what went wrong so you can learn from it. Listen to what I say with care. And, above all, be safe. There’s no need for anyone to get seriously hurt so long as you follow my instructions.” 

The rest of the class was rather uneventful. They ended up taking notes for the rest of the period as Professor Gaster went over some of the basic principles of potion making. By the time the class was dismissed, Mettablook was a washed out shade of pink and was hovering several inches lower, a bored expression on his face. Chara was slumped over on the table, not even trying to hide their apathy, and Sans looked even more tired than usual, though he still bore his customary grin.

“Well, that took forever.” Mettablook griped as they made their way up the dungeon stairs. Chara nodded in earnest, a small frown on their face. Sans shrugged.  
“yeah. it wasn’t all that interesting. what did you think of it, alphys?” He asked, turning to the lizard. She shrank down into her robes, flustered.  
“Well—I—you know, it’s really—“ She was saved by a gasp from Mettablook.  
“Oh my! I have Charms next, and that’s on the second floor! Quick, Chara! We have to make it there in time!” Mettablook was in such a rush that he sped off without saying goodbye, Chara trailing behind him. Turning back to Sans, Alphys realized that he had disappeared. She scanned the stairway, but he was nowhere to be seen. Well, at least now she didn’t have to say that she had thought the class was very informative, and had enjoyed it a lot. Shrugging, she made her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. As she walked into the classroom, she noticed Napstablook sitting all alone, looking a little bit downtrodden. She quickly sat down next to them, and they changed to a brighter, more cheery shade of blue when they spotted her.

“hey…” they said. “do you know what—“ Suddenly, Napstablook was interrupted by the scaled fish monster sprinting through the door just as the passing time ended. A door in the back of the classroom, and her eye widened. Just one eye. Alphys hadn’t noticed her eyepatch before. Undyne sprinted toward the seat closest to the door, the one next to Alphys. She sat down in it so fast that it almost tipped all the way backwards, but she managed to regain her balance quickly. Alphys was a bit confused as to what was going on, and was about to ask when an old, scarred turtle emerged from behind the door. Instead of robes like everyone else, he wore what looked like a jungle explorer’s khaki shirt and hat. He scanned the room with his beady eyes, reaching up a clawed hand to stroke his goatee. His gaze landed on Alphys’s table, and he threw back his head and let out a laugh.

“Wa ha ha! So you actually did make it on time then, Undyne. Well, good on you, kid. I was wrong.” The turtle admitted, making his way to an old folding chair next to a blackboard. He didn’t seem to have a desk anywhere in the room.  
“Alright, class. The name’s Gerson, and I’ll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I’ve been fighting baddies since before most of you were ever hatched. I’m a firm believer in learning through experience, so we’ll be starting hands-on work as soon as possible. For today, I’m sure I won’t be able to keep your attention for long, since it’s the first day of classes. So this is time for you to do what you like. Though, if I were you, I’d read up on gnomes before Friday if you want to keep your toes.” There was widespread murmuring at this statement, and a grin spread across Gerson’s face, and there was a brief flutter of movement as everyone pulled out their books to get a jump start on gnomes.

Shooting a glance at Gerson, who was sitting in his chair reading a book, Undyne turned to Alphys and Napstablook, grinning.

“Thanks for covering me there. I’ve known Gerson for a while, and he bet me that I’d be late to his class on the first day. But I showed him!” She proclaimed, pumping her fist in the air with vigor.  
“W-what did he bet you?” Alphys asked, still somewhat confused. Undyne looked perplexed as well.  
“What do you mean?” She asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.  
“I mean, what d-do you get now that you’ve won?” The lizard elaborated.  
“The satisfaction of a victory over the old coot!” When Alphys looked scandalized at her calling the professor a coot, Undyne waved a hand dismissively. “Listen, we go way back. I call him a coot, he calls me stubborn, it’s just a joke.” Alphys relaxed at that. “Oh, I didn’t even introduce myself! Sorry.” She stuck out a hand, and Alphys tentatively reached out to shake it. “I’m Undyne. Great to meet you guys.”  
“I-I’m Alphys.” Alphys replied, shaking Undyne’s hand.  
“napstablook…” Undyne reached out to try and shake their hand, even though they lacked arms. It was probably more of a gesture than anything, but after a few seconds of nobody else making a move, she dropped her hand back down to her side, seeming unfazed.

 

“So, what do you guys think of Hogwarts so far?” Undyne asked as she jotted down some notes on a scrap piece of paper, looking up from her textbook to briefly glance at the two of them.  
“it’s alright…i had charms first…it was fun…i guess…” They replied in their usual monotone. Alphys wasn’t sure how to respond.  
“I l-like it, I think. Magic’s really interesting, at least. I m-mean, it’s only been one and a half periods and I f-feel like I’ve learned a lot already. Imagine what it will be like when we’re really good at it! I mean, I…” She trailed off, suddenly overcome with a wave of self-consciousness. Had she gone on too long? Undyne was probably bored by now. To her surprise, though, the fish monster gave her a wide grin.  
“No, I totally get it! I can’t wait to master magic! It’ll be so great! I heard that it’s possible to even create life out of something! Like if you turn a matchbox into a mouse. That’s gonna be so cool!” Alphys returned her smile with a shaky one of her own.  
“I d-don’t think I’d be great at that one…b-but I think it sounds exciting.” Alphys replied.  
“If you work hard on improving, you’ll definitely get it!” Undyne replied enthusiastically. She seemed to emanate energy. It was refreshing to see someone so exuberant and open. Then, Undyne’s eye flashed with recognition, and Alphys was hit with a flash of concern. What had she done this time?

“Hey, you’re Sans’s roommate, right?” Alphys nodded, relieved that that was what she was referring to.  
“Cool! That lazybones could use someone to motivate him. He said you were pretty nice, though. Glad to hear he’s got someone that he can get along with.” Alphys felt a small warm feeling rush through her, expelling a bit of the self-doubt that had overcome her before. Well, maybe everyone wouldn’t hate her here. Then again, they didn’t know what she’d done. Still, she couldn’t be all bad if they thought she was nice…right?

They worked for the rest of the period, with a few pauses for conversation here and there but mostly note taking. Once they left the classroom, Undyne gave the two of them another wide grin.  
“Well, I’ve gotta get going. It was great meeting you guys! See you later!” She turned and sprinted off without another word, and Alphys and Napstablook ended up parting ways at the stairs, as they headed off to potions while she went up to charms. She entered and found Frisk sitting at a table with Sans. They waved her over, and she happily joined them. Just as the lizard sat down, a dog wearing horribly clashing clothes prowled into the room. Class began immediately afterward, with Professor Doggo seeming to be a strict taskmaster despite his terrible fashion sense. Alphys noticed that all of the items on his desk were vibrating slightly, and when she asked Sans about it, he simply shrugged.

The most eventful part of the class was near the end, when Professor Doggo was answering a student’s question. Sans nudged Alphys and Frisk, pulling his wand out of his robes. He pointed it at one of the vibrating dog treats on the desk, and it slowly floated up and into the air. Alphys’s jaw dropped, but Frisk looked unsurprised, just trying to hold back a grin. As Sans trained his wand on the biscuit, it floated steadily towards Professor Doggo’s head. Most of the class’s eyes were on the floating biscuit, and even the student who had asked the question wasn’t paying attention to what the professor was saying anymore. The biscuit grew closer and closer, until it gave Professor Doggo’s head a gentle pet. He immediately froze, then began looking from side to side. The biscuit dropped to the ground as Sans concealed his wand beneath his robes once more. Professor Doggo didn’t seem upset, instead just excited as he exclaimed,  
“Pat? Pot? Pet? Poot?” Evidently, he was so excited he was mixing up his robes. Sans, Frisk, Alphys, and most of the class were doubled over with laughter, and when they left the classroom, there were still grins on their faces.

“well, it looks like i’m off to history of magic. see you guys.” Alphys turned to say goodbye to sans, but once more, he was gone. When she turned to ask Frisk, they simply shrugged.  
“I g-guess I’ve got Transfiguration next.” Alphys observed, looking over her schedule. “So I’ll be going this way.” Frisk gave her a wave, and she headed towards Transfiguration, a sinking feeling in her stomach. If this was what she thought it was, she’d already had a bit of experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry if this seems a little slow this chapter, I just want to get everything set up correctly so I don't miss anything. As always, if you liked this chapter, or this work as a whole, please let me know! I've already received some positive feedback so far, and I greatly appreciate it. And, if you have any constructive criticism, please let me know that as well! Thank you for reading and have a great day.


	5. Fallen Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys has Transfiguration, and something strange is afoot.

Alphys hustled over to Transfiguration, and bumped into Undyne (quite literally) as she rounded a corner. She was sent toppling onto the ground, books and papers spilling out of her bookbag as Undyne stumbled backwards.  
“Oh, sorry!” Undyne apologized, reaching out a hand to Alphys. The lizard gratefully took it, and was forcefully pulled to her feet by Undyne, stumbling a little. Undyne didn’t seem to notice, though, as she was too busy trying to pick up all of Alphys’s things, having turned to the task the moment the lizard was upright.  
“I-it’s no problem.” Alphys muttered, readjusting her glasses on her snout. Undyne handed Alphys her bag, haphazardly crammed with everything that had scattered all over the floor. Alphys took it gratefully. “Thanks.” She replied, eyes fixed on her feet. Undyne was undeterred.  
“Hey, where are you going next? I should walk with you to make sure someone else doesn’t try to tackle you into the floor.” Undyne replied with a toothy grin. Alphys couldn’t help but laugh a little.  
“T-transfiguration.”

“No way! Me too! Let’s go.” Alphys walked alongside Undyne up the next staircase, glad to have the company. Undyne seemed serious about the whole ‘protecting Alphys from potential tacklers’ thing, because she seemed more vigilant than usual, tugging Alphys a bit to the side when a flaming volcano monster dashed down the stairs a little too quickly. It was kind of nice, having someone watch out for her like that, even if it was only a little. Undyne seemed to visibly relax when they stopped outside of the Transfiguration room door. “Well, here we are! I guess I got you here safe.” The fish monster declared, opening the door for Alphys, who smiled and nodded to her in thanks. As soon as Undyne entered behind her, she heard a loud call from the table in the very front of the room.

“UNDYNE!” Papyrus stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over in his excitement and waving both arms furiously in the air.  
“Papyrus!” Undyne called out, running over to him and knocking a few vacant chairs over in the process. Alphys was left standing alone at the door, suddenly feeling very self-conscious and alone. After a cursory glance around the room, it was clear that she didn’t know anyone else. But it made sense that Undyne would want to sit with her friend. After all, she barely knew Alphys. Just as she was thinking that, however, Undyne turned around and ran back to the lizard, taking her hand. “Come on! We can pull up another chair.” Alphys instantly felt a bit better, which was amplified when, while leading her towards the table, Undyne yelled, “Hey Papyrus! This is Alphys! She’s SUPER AWESOME!”

“WELCOME, ALPHYS! I AM PAPYRUS! IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU.” Papyrus replied happily. Undyne let go of Alphys’s hand to pull over another chair for her. The two of them sat down just as a door in the back of the classroom opened, and Headmistress Toriel walked out.

“Hello, class.” She greeted everyone with a smile, standing in front of the blackboard. “As you all know, I am Toriel, and I will be your Transfiguration teacher. I am afraid an incident has come up that I must attend to, so I will be leaving the groundskeepers, Dogamy and Dogaressa, in charge while I attend to this other matter.” At that, whispering broke out among the class. Toriel quieted these with a wave of her hand.  
“I’m sure you arere all concerned. But do not worry. I should not be gone for long. I am sorry to leave you on the first day. It does not seem fair to have you do work while I am gone, since I will not even be here to teach you, so you can do what you see fit with this time. Be good, alright?” Everyone gave a noise or gesture of affirmation, and Toriel turned to leave, meeting two identically dressed dogs at the door. Alphys supposed that they had to be Dogamy and Dogaressa.

“I WONDER WHY THE HEADMISTRESS IS LEAVING.” Papyrus said, sounding a bit crestfallen. “I WAS HOPING TO LEARN. MAYBE SHE’S THROWING A SURPRISE PARTY FOR US AS SOON AS WE LEAVE THE CLASSROOM?” He sounded so hopeful at that thought that Alphys didn’t want to ruin it. She looked to Undyne for help. The fish monster just chuckled.  
“I’m sure that must be it, Papyrus.” She replied.  
“I-I thought headmistresses didn’t teach classes…Why is Toriel teaching? Or Asgore?” Alphys asked.  
“Normally neither of them would, but apparently something happened to some of their teachers that caused them to have to step in. Gerson’s not a regular teacher here either. They had to call him out of retirement.” Undyne answered.  
“How did you know that?” Alphys asked, tilting her head slightly to one side in a quizzical manner.  
“UNDYNE GETS SUPER-SECRET TRAINING WITH ASGORE! I BET HE TOLD HER! RIGHT, UNDYNE?” Papyrus responded eagerly. Undyne nodded, looking a little uncomfortable at the mention of training but masking it within a matter of seconds.

“That’s right. He didn’t say what happened to the teachers, though. It had to be something big for so many of them to go that quickly.” There was a pause of silence for a moment, charged with an uneasy feeling. Papyrus decided to break the silence.  
“I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL THE HEADMISTRESS COMES BACK! I WANT TO LEARN ABOUT CONJURATION!”  
“C-conjuration? Isn’t that supposed to be really hard?” Alphys asked, feeling a little intimidated by even the idea of it.  
“Different types of magic come easier to different monsters. Most monsters have a sort of specialty that they can learn really quickly, and then everything else is harder. It’s even worse for humans, since they don’t even get a specialty. Anyways, the point is, some monsters have the ability to conjure or levitate things in their first year, but some aren’t even that good by the time they leave. It all depends.” Alphys nodded. That made sense. It explained why Sans was already so good at making objects fly, and why Napstablook could make an illusion of a galaxy.

“YES! UNDYNE IS AMAZING AT CONJURATION! SHE CAN MAKE BLUE SPEARS APPEAR OUT OF THIN AIR!” Papyrus exclaimed cheerily. Alphys’s eyes widened, and she shot a look at Undyne, who suddenly looked uncomfortable.  
“R-really?” She asked, impressed.  
“YES! I’VE SEEN HER DO IT BEFORE! I WANT TO GET HER TO TEACH ME, BUT SHE ALWAYS REFUSES.” Alphys looked at Undyne once more, who was determinedly looking in the other direction. She realized that perhaps it was time to change the subject.  
“Papyrus, I b-bet you’ll be great on your own. I’m sure Toriel can teach you, anyways.” Papyrus’s gaze lit up, at least, as much as a skeleton’s gaze could.  
“REALLY? I ALREADY AM GREAT AT IT, OF COURSE. I MADE THIS BONE JUST THE OTHER DAY.” From the pocket of his robes, Papyrus pulled out a light blue bone about the size of one of Alphys’s fingers.  
“That’s r-really cool.” Alphys said, impressed.  
“Yeah, nice job, Paps.” Undyne added, rejoining the conversation now that it seemed to have moved away from her blue spears. Papyrus puffed up his chest.  
“THANK YOU! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE THE BEST CONJURER EVER! YOU’LL SEE!” 

They passed the rest of the period chatting, and Alphys had a good time. Papyrus was goofy, but sweet, and Undyne was just as exuberant as before. Alphys found herself more energized by the conversation than tired, which was surprising. On a somewhat concerning note, Toriel never returned, and was not throwing a surprise party out in the hallway as Papyrus had hoped. The three of them parted ways at the next staircase, and Alphys headed off to her next class.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Alphys had Herbology with Asriel, History of Magic with Frisk, and Magical Theory with Sans, Mettablook, and Papyrus. They had assigned seats in that class, so Alphys didn’t have a chance to speak with any of them, but as soon as they left Mettablook floated up to her eagerly.  
“Did you hear what happened?” He asked eagerly. Alphys shook her head. “Someone fell down in the hallway today.”  
“What d-does that mean? I fell down, too.” Alphys asked, sounding confused. Mettablook rolled his eyes.  
“Not like that. They fell down, and they couldn’t get up again. They had to be carried to the hospital wing.” Alphys’s eyes widened in shock. Perhaps that was what Toriel had left to deal with.  
“R-really? Are they okay?” She asked, concerned.  
“I don’t know. But everyone was going crazy about it. There was a huge uproar.” Mettablook seemed to care less about whoever had fallen down and more about the drama that it had caused. 

They headed down to the Great Hall for dinner, where, surprisingly, Undyne was nowhere to be seen. Sans looked a little less cheery than usual, though Papyrus was quite oblivious. Alphys and Mettablook sat down at the edge of what was officially the Ravenclaw table, though the students had gotten so mixed together that nobody could really tell what was what anymore. Napstablook hovered along shortly after. “Blooky!” Mettablook exclaimed happily, dropping their ghost hamburger. “How were your classes? I didn’t have any with you.” Napstablook didn’t look too happy at this fact, but they were a lighter shade of blue, so they couldn’t have been feeling too down.

“they were okay…i guess…” The ghost replied, preparing a plate of ghost salad. “i heard that shyren’s sister fell down…i hope she’s okay…” Napstablook continued with a frown. Mettablook waved off his concerns.  
“I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Turning to Alphys, he explained, “Shyren is a few years younger than us. We met her when her fifth grade class took a trip to our family’s snail farm. She’s a very nice kid, if a bit quiet.” Alphys nodded, and the rest of their dinner was spent talking about one class or another. Alphys was glad that the conversation had moved away from the monster who had fallen down, since talking about it gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. After they finished dinner, Alphys bade them farewell, and headed up to Ravenclaw tower. 

This time, she was mostly alone, accompanied only by the odd straggling student or two. The paintings continued to unnerve her, especially after her dream last night. She noticed a few spiders scurrying in and out of cracks in the wall, and a horde of them on the floor desperately trying to clean up a slime trail undoubtedly left by the snail monster that had led her up to Ravenclaw tower yesterday. When she approached the door and knocked, the eagle ruffled its feathers and opened its beak.  
“What needs notes but cannot read?” Alphys had to think about that one for a moment.  
“Um…a song?” She answered hesitantly.  
“Correct.” The door swung open, and Alphys was greeted with a crowded common room. She decided to head immediately up to her room to avoid the crowd.

Realizing that she hadn’t unpacked at all that morning, Alphys set herself to the task of making the dorm a bit more like her room at home. She unfurled one of her favorite anime posters and placed it on the wall next to her bed, deciding to wait on the rest in case Sans wanted her to take them down. She also took a few packets of instant noodles and put them under her mattress, just in case. She put a copy of her favorite manga on the nightstand, and plugged her laptop into the wall. She wasn’t sure if Hogwarts had wifi, but it made her feel a bit better.

“having fun?” Alphys jumped, turning to see Sans standing in the doorway, a tired grin on his face.  
“U-um, yeah. Do you like it? I put the poster away…if you want…” She trailed off, embarrassed. Sans looked it over.  
“i like it. It’s very colorful.” He replied. Alphys let out a sigh, relieved.  
“Where have you been, anyways? You left before me at dinner, so I thought you’d be up here sooner.” Alphys asked, turning away to unpack another poster.  
“i went to go find undyne. she was pretty bummed. i’m sure you heard about the monster that fell down.” Alphys nodded, hanging the second poster next to the first one. “well, undyne used to give her little sister piano lessons. i stopped at the hospital wing to see if she was there.” Sans paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out how to word this next part.

“she wasn’t there. but a lot of other people were. they were trying to keep more people from coming in to visit. but i caught a glimpse of shyren’s sister before they shooed me away. it’s weird…” Alphys turned to face him. The skeleton looked contemplative.  
“W-what? What was wrong with her?” She asked after a few more moments of silence. Sans shrugged.

“like i said, it’s weird. and there were a lot of other people there, so i’m not sure. but for a second there, it almost looked like she was melting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter. It has a few hints of the underlying plot and backstories and stuff in it, which I'm hoping to develop later. Thank you once more for all of the positive feedback this story has received so far! It's very much appreciated. If you liked it, please let me know, and if you have any constructive criticism for me, please let me know that as well! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!


	6. The Newspaper and the Boggart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weeks after Shyren's sister has fallen down, students still aren't free from fear.

Alphys wasn’t entirely certain what happened next. One moment she was standing, talking to Sans, and the next, she was half-collapsed on the bed, not sure if she had fallen down or not. Sans rushed over to her, bony hands on the arm that wasn’t bracing herself on the mattress.  
“whoa, whoa, whoa! you okay, alphys?” He asked, sounding concerned. Alphys made herself take several deep breaths. Just because Shyren’s sister had melted didn’t mean that she had caused it. It could be a weird coincidence. A very, very weird coincidence. But still, try as she might, she couldn’t calm her breathing. She was no stranger to panic attacks, but she hadn’t had one in quite a while. All she could think of was the feel of melted flesh against her claws, the moans of misshapen figures as they cried out, reaching for her with malformed arms...”alphys, can you hear me?” Sans was talking again. Alphys had almost forgotten that he was here, despite his slowly tightening grip on her arm.

“if you can, just breathe, okay? slow, deep breaths. try counting from one to ten in your head. it’s all gonna be alright.” He sounded more calm now, and Alphys closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing.  
One…  
If Sans knew what she had done, he wouldn’t be here helping her.  
Two…  
She was such a terrible person, a liar, someone who didn’t deserve forgiveness.  
Three…  
And yet, she had never even met Shyren’s sister, or Shyren, for that matter.  
Four…  
There was no way she could have caused this.  
Five…  
This time, at least, it wasn’t her fault.  
By the time Alphys reached ten, she was feeling much better, and shakily placed her weight back on her feet again, letting go of her bed. Sans was still holding her arm, clearly still worried.  
“Thanks.” She said, offering him a small smile in an attempt to convince him that she was okay. It helped a little. He loosened his grip.  
“are you sure you’re alright? panic attacks can be nasty.” She nodded, but he still didn’t let go.  
“I-I’m fine, Sans, okay? I’m fine.” The lizard said, trying to convince both herself and the skeleton. He finally let go, but didn’t step backward. “H-how did you know it was a panic attack, anyways?” She asked, a little confused. The few times she’d ever had one in public, others had mostly treated her like she was just acting weird or something, not like it was a legitimate problem. Sans shrugged.  
“how does anyone know anything?” Not much of an answer, to be honest. But Alphys wouldn’t push it. After all, he hadn’t asked her why she had freaked out just then. 

They prepared for bed in silence—well, more accurately, Alphys prepared, and Sans pulled out his phone and began to text someone. Before she could ask, he said,  
“i’m texting papyrus his bedtime story. usually i read it to him in person, but i can’t if i’m halfway across the castle.” Alphys brought a hand to her mouth to cover her smile.  
“That’s nice of you.” Sans shrugged once more.  
“if it makes him feel more comfortable here, i’ll keep doing it for as long as he needs.” Sans put his phone down, evidently done with the story. Alphys sat down on her bed, staring out the window to the darkened grounds. Somewhere out there was proof of all of her mistakes. She turned away, sighing. No use thinking about it now.  
“Good night, Sans.” She said, lying down and pulling her blanket up to her chin. Sans made no move to lie down, but turned to her and gave her a wink.  
“night, alphys.”

The next two weeks passed without incident, mostly. Undyne was a bit quiet during Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, clearly upset about Shyren’s sister. Papyrus tried repeatedly to cheer her up, while Alphys instead chose to offer quiet support, not certain what to do. Sans was a natural at charms, effortlessly making objects float above Professor Doggo’s head, much to the class’s amusement. Toriel had returned to teach Transfiguration, but they hadn’t done much hands-on work yet, to Papyrus’s chagrin. Mettablook and Napstablook were the same as ever, though Mettablook was slowly growing more outspoken with his distaste for Potions and Professor Gaster. All in all, however, everything seemed to be going smoothly until one fateful Sunday.

Hundreds of owls poured in from the windows, as per the usual routine. Alphys had been pretty surprised by it the first time, but by now she was used to it. One deposited a newspaper titled “The Daily Prophet” in front of Mettablook.  
“Oh no!” Alphys looked over to the front page to see an unsettling headline plastered across the paper.  
“Hogwarts Heads Helpless as Hapless Hufflepuff is reduced to Horrifying Heap.” Mettablook frowned. “I wouldn’t have gone with that much alliteration.” The picture on the cover was of an uncomfortable looking Asgore, clearly trying to save face, but caught at a bad moment. “It says here that they sent Shyren’s sister to St. Mungo’s after they couldn’t help her in the hospital wing. Apparently she stopped melting after a while, but they couldn’t get her to solidify again…how dreadful. I hope that doesn’t happen to me when I have a solid body.”

“all the quotes are from asgore…” Napstablook observed, reading over the paper as well. “that’s probably why he’s sitting so far away from toriel…she must have chewed him out.” Alphys looked up at the head table to see the proof for himself. Asgore looked just as uncomfortable as he was on the cover of the newspaper, and kept on shooting terrified looks at Toriel, who was determinedly looking the other way and was sitting on the opposite end of the table.

When Alphys made it to Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was to find a furious Undyne.  
“That big dumb goofball!” She muttered to herself, staring at the blackboard as Alphys sat down.  
“I-I guess you saw the article?” Alphys asked, and Undyne whipped her head around to face her so fast that her neck cracked.  
“Yeah.” She replied, rubbing her neck with a scowl. “I know he didn’t mean to screw up, but everyone’s going to get a lot of heat for this. Toriel always said to let her handle the interviews, but I suppose he just messed up.” Alphys nodded, not really sure what to say. Undyne sighed.  
“But it’s not the big guy’s fault. I know he wouldn’t do anything like that on purpose. I just…news reporters can be vicious. He needs to be more careful. But enough about that. How are you, Alphys?” Alphys couldn’t help but smile. Undyne asked her that every day, and despite the fact that it was a relatively small gesture, Alphys appreciated it nonetheless. Especially since Undyne actually seemed to care.

“I’m fine. Chara got detention in Potions, though. They threatened Mettablook with their knife after he made a comment about how they were chopping their beetroot.” She recalled, hoping that Chara hadn’t been serious, even if Mettablook was incorporeal. Undyne’s eye widened.  
“Seriously? Chara’s always been a bit weird about knives, but yeah, that’s definitely worthy of a detention.” Alphys nodded and was about to continue when Gerson burst in through the back door of the classroom, carrying a rattling nightstand with the drawer belted shut. Alphys jumped at the sudden noise, but Undyne looked intrigued. Napstablook floated in the door behind Gerson, looking bored as usual.

“Alright, class! Gather round.” Gerson called out after depositing the desk at the front of the classroom. When no one made a move, he frowned. “Come on, get closer! It’s not gonna bite! Yet, at least.” With some widespread murmuring, everyone got out of their chairs and moved forward. Gerson grinned. “That’s more like it. Now, this here’s a boggart. Usually they’re reserved for third years to fight, but I believe in being unexpected! Wa ha ha!” He slammed a fist down on the desk, and it rattled even more. “More importantly, these nasty little buggers take the form of whatever you fear most. Not only that, but they’re attracted to fear. And since everyone’s been all worried about that unfortunate student, we’ve had a rash of them lately. Just this week, I’ve had to catch three of them lurking in armoires and the like. So, I figured it’s time for you to learn how to fight them, in case you encounter them on your own.”

Despite Alphys’s initial apprehension about the safety of the class, Gerson was very thorough about going over the spell with them. Alphys wasn’t confident that she could do it, but he had reassured them that either he or Napstablook would step in to help if things got out of hand. “You should see them in action! They’re a natural! Not afraid of anything. They helped me capture this one.” Gerson explained, gesturing the desk. When Alphys shot Napstablook an inquisitive look, they simply shrugged.

“Who wants to go first?” A rabbit student in the back offered to go, and Gerson unbelted the drawer. A black cloud poured out of the drawer, and formed a massive wolf, dark eyes narrowed and fanged jaws drooling as it crept closer to the rabbit. The rabbit shakily raised his wand and shouted the spell. The wolf was quickly transformed into a fluffy white dog, rolling over and waving its legs in the air. The rabbit smiled, and then another student went. Alphys didn’t want to go at all. She knew what hers would be. Unfortunately, after over half of the class had faced their fears, it seemed as though her turn was coming up. When a student behind her tripped and accidentally shoved her to the front, her heart dropped into her stomach. The boggart turned to face her, and promptly began to melt. Alphys felt her breath quicken, and raised her wand as her chest tightened. 

“R-Ridi…Ridi…” She couldn’t get the words out, and the boggart took several steps towards her, moaning all the while.  
“Help me, Alphys…” It groaned. “You did this…”  
“Ri…Ri…” Alphys dropped her wand with a clatter, hands shaking too much to hold it. She brought her hands to cover her eyes, feeling tears start to prick at the corner of them.  
“Hey!” A loud voice yelled from her right. Alphys peered out from behind her hands to see Undyne waving her arms in the air, trying to catch the boggart’s attention. It worked.  
The boggart began to transform again, and Alphys managed to take several deep breaths, picking up her wand and backing up as fast as she could. Undyne stood before the boggart, seemingly fearless, stance defiant. The boggart began to change once more. It seemed to disappear altogether, until a blue spear materialized out of thin air and impaled itself on the ground before her feet. Undyne took a step back, her resolve seeming to waver. The spear disappeared, and in front of Undyne materialized…Undyne?

Before Undyne stood a slightly shorter version of herself, one hand held up to her missing eye. The boggart’s remaining eye was narrowed, and it had a twisted grin on its face. In its other hand was the blue spear, and its clothes were stained with blood. Alphys looked back to Undyne—the real Undyne—and was shocked to see her with fear in her eye, clenched fists shaking as much as her own hands had been. Gerson seemed to see that something was wrong as well.  
“Alright, that’s enough. Come here, you big brute!” Gerson walked over to the boggart Undyne and flicked it on the shoulder. It turned to face him, and while it was in the middle of transforming, he tackled it. The boggart made a hissing noise, and Gerson, seemingly effortlessly, picked it up and shoved it back into the drawer.  
“Good job today, everyone! No homework. Just rest up, remember this charm, and know that it’s perfectly fine to be afraid, so long as you don’t let it control you.”

Undyne snatched up her things and bolted from the classroom before Alphys could say a word. Grabbing her own bookbag, she raced after her, cursing her short legs. Undyne was well ahead of her before Alphys called out,  
“Wait!” Undyne stopped, turning around and looking somewhat defensive.  
“What?” She asked, a frown on her face, hands still shaking a little. Alphys ran over to her, panting from the effort.  
“I just wanted to say…thank you. For helping me with the boggart.” Undyne’s expression softened, and the fish monster forced a smile.  
“No problem.” She replied. “What are friends for?” Alphys smiled a little herself, but wasn’t done yet.  
“A-and…about your boggart…” Undyne tensed, almost looking as though she was about to run again. “I’m here if you want to talk about it…or if you don’t. It seemed like it kind of freaked you out.” Undyne smiled again, and it seemed a little more genuine.  
“Thanks, Alphys. Really. But it’s nothing. You shouldn’t worry about it. I’m tough! I eat nails for breakfast!” Alphys was worried about it, but didn’t press the matter further, especially since Undyne was clearly done talking about it. She seemed to be in better spirits, at least.  
“W-well, I guess you should head to class…if you don’t want to be late, at least.” Alphys replied. She didn’t want to stop talking to Undyne, but she didn’t want to make her late, either. Undyne nodded, but before she ran off, bent down to give Alphys a gentle hug. Then, she sped away, weaving between the humans and monsters in the hallway with renewed vigor.

“that was nice of you…” Alphys jumped. She hadn’t noticed Napstablook float up next to her. They offered her a small smile.  
“I-I only did what anyone else would have done.” She replied with a shrug.  
“you’re a nice monster, alphys…” Alphys couldn’t help but smile at that, even if she felt like she didn’t deserve the compliment.  
“Thanks, Napstablook. But I should get going. I don’t want to be late.” Alphys headed off to her next class with a mixture of apprehension and hope. Undyne had succeeded in cheering her up as well. After all, what were friends for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping that I did well on this chapter. I'm still trying to set up the overarching plot to see if it actually makes any sense. Anyways, I hope that you guys liked it! If you did like it, please let me know, and if you have any constructive criticism or anything along that vein, please let me know that as well!  
> As usual, thanks for reading, and have a great day!


	7. What Friends are For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys overthinks what happened earlier. Luckily, her friends come to the rescue.

Alphys was quite distracted when she got to charms. They were supposed to be learning how to get their papers to vibrate slightly so Professor Doggo could read what they were writing. Alphys wasn’t the best at charms, but thanks to Sans’s help, she was proficient enough to not be lagging behind. Frisk was about as good as she was, if not a little better. However, today, Alphys was having the worst luck with her wand movements. They were supposed to move them in a quick zigzagging pattern, which Sans achieved on the first try, but Alphys kept on messing up somehow. The first time she tried, the paper crumpled itself into a ball, and when she tried again, it simply scrunched up tighter. Alphys sighed and pulled out a new piece of paper. Waving her wand once more, the corners of the paper raised slightly, then flopped back onto the table. Alphys frowned, frustrated now. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned to see Frisk, looking concerned. They pulled out their quill and scratched a message on their vibrating paper, passing it over to her once they had finished writing.  
“Are you okay?” Alphys gave them a small smile.  
“Y-yeah. Last period just caught me a little off-guard. I don’t want to bother you guys, though.” She replied, turning back to her paper and attempting the charm again. The paper didn’t even move this time. She felt another tap on her shoulder. Frisk had scratched out the first message and written a new one underneath it.  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Alphys shrugged.  
“I wouldn’t want to annoy you guys with my stupid problems…” She muttered, unable to meet Frisk’s gaze.  
“you wouldn’t be annoying us. everyone needs to talk sometimes.” Sans replied. He had moved beyond making the paper vibrate and had gotten it to fold into a paper airplane with a flick of his wand. It was now doing loops in front of him. Alphys hadn’t even been sure if he was paying attention to her before now.

“but if you don’t wanna talk, that’s cool too. do whatever makes you comfortable.” He continued, directing the airplane to land gently on the desk in front of them. Alphys felt a bit of her self-doubt get chased away. What had she done to deserve such nice friends?  
“Well, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, we were supposed to fight a boggart. And I…completely screwed up. I got scared, and I couldn’t do the spell right. I was a complete failure.” Alphys absentmindedly began to tear the edges of her paper, just looking for something to do with her hands.  
“boggarts are scary. it’s only natural to be afraid when facing your biggest fear.” Alphys’s hands began to work faster, and her rips in the paper got bigger and sloppier.  
“I know. And that’s not even really what I’m worried about. It’s just…” Sans’s airplane was flying in the air again. Alphys looked up to see it doing loops in front of him. Frisk had put their quill down, giving her their full attention.

“Undyne saved me from it. It was really g-great of her to do something like that. But then…” Sans’s airplane froze in the air. Suddenly, his attention was on Alphys, and not the paper.  
“let me guess. she got scared.” Alphys nodded, surprised.  
“Y-yeah. How did you know?” Sans put his wand in his pocket. The airplane gently drifted back down on to the table.

“undyne hasn’t always been the super tough cookie she is now. i don’t really know anything about her past, but i wouldn’t dig too deeply into it. some bygones are best left bygones.” Alphys frowned. That was rather cryptic, but she understood not wanting to talk about the past. Even if she wanted to help, perhaps the best thing to do would be to let the subject drop.  
“Okay. I w-won’t ask. I just felt bad. She wouldn’t have had to deal with that if I hadn’t been so weak.” Alphys replied with a sigh. Frisk slid another piece of paper over to her.  
“You’re not weak.” It read. When Alphys looked up at Frisk, they were smiling at her. The bell rang moments later, and Frisk leaned over, stuffed the paper with their message on it in Alphys’s pocket, then left. Alphys turned to look back at Sans, but he had already disappeared. She had learned to just accept his frequent disappearances. Alphys tossed all of the remaining paper on the desk into the trash and left for Transfiguration.

She was surprised to see Undyne looking considerably more chipper, sitting with Papyrus and laughing loudly with him. The two of them waved to her as she came in, helping to quell her fears that Undyne wouldn’t want to sit with her after Defense Against the Dark Arts. Alphys sat next to her with a quiet ‘hello’ in greeting. Undyne’s expression was suddenly clouded with concern, but before she could say anything, Toriel called out,  
“Hello, class. Today we’ll be learning about enlarging objects. Please turn to chapter 3 in your textbook.” While Papyrus and Undyne would usually joke around and chat with Alphys during the idle time between note taking, Alphys couldn’t bring herself to talk to Undyne in more than one word responses. If anything, Sans’s mysterious hint about Undyne’s past made her feel even worse. If she had just been able to do the spell, Undyne wouldn’t have had to deal with whatever trauma had happened to her in the past. Toriel ended class early, saying that she had some “Official Headmistress business to attend to” and imploring them to “be good, alright?” while she was gone.

“Hey, Alphys? Are you okay?” Undyne asked. Alphys forced a smile.  
“I’m f-fine. Everything’s f-fine.” Alphys replied. She didn’t even notice that her hands were shaking until Undyne rested her own hand on top of one of hers.  
“Well, you can tell me if you want. I just want to help.” Undyne replied gently, her usual loud and boisterous tone disappearing.  
“YES! YOUR PALS ARE HERE FOR YOU!” Papyrus added cheerily. Alphys was looking anywhere but at Undyne’s face.  
“I..I just…Sorry.” Alphys mumbled quietly. When Undyne spoke again, she sounded confused.  
“Sorry? About what? You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Alphys wished she could just sink through the floor.  
“If I was better at doing that spell in Defense Against the Dark Arts, you wouldn’t have had to come save me, and…” Alphys broke off, taking a deep breath. “I just want you to know I’m sorry. For not being better.”  
“Alphys? Hey, Alphys, look at me, okay?” Alphys tore her eyes away from the floor to meet Undyne’s eye, as much as she didn’t want to. To her surprise, Undyne didn’t look scared or upset or mad. She had a small, warm smile on her face.  
“I don’t blame you even a little. You’re my friend! It was my choice to distract that boggart, and I’d do it again if I had to. So don’t feel responsible. I just wish I had done better taking down that boggart!” Alphys chuckled a little, and Undyne’s smile grew a bit wider.  
“THAT’S RIGHT, ALPHYS! I DON’T KNOW WHAT EITHER OF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, BUT FRIENDS PROTECT FRIENDS!” Papyrus exclaimed. Alphys suddenly felt much better. 

They spent the rest of Transfiguration goofing off as they usually did, though when the bell rang and it was time to go, Undyne lifted Alphys in the air in a huge hug.  
“You’re awesome! So don’t blame yourself! Everything will be fine, you’ll see.” She put Alphys down with a huge grin, then turned and dashed away after calling out, “See you later!” Alphys was blushing furiously, though she couldn’t quite explain why. She headed to Herbology in much better spirits but still feeling a little flustered.  
“Hi, Alphys!” Asriel waved at her as she entered the greenhouse, a wide grin on his snout. Alphys gave him a wave back and walked over to stand next to him. Asriel was her only friend in this class, but he was definitely good company. Like his father, he was a natural with plants, and had even told her that he’d like to grow up to do something with herbs. “Maybe I’ll become the next Herbology teacher. Or maybe I’ll work in an apothecary. Or sell tea!” Asriel had told her that on the first day of class, then asked her what she wanted to do after Hogwarts. She had told him that she wasn’t sure. She really liked potions, but wasn’t sure if that was her true passion. Then again, would she even be able to follow her true passion if she kept messing up like this?

“You seem distracted. Is everything okay?” Asriel asked, tilting his head inquisitively to one side. Alphys nodded.  
“Y-yeah. I was just talking with Undyne about something. I feel way better now.” Asriel nodded understandingly.  
“I get why you’re flustered, then. She’s definitely intimidating sometimes.” Alphys shook her head insistently.  
“W-what? No, that’s not…I didn’t mean…I don’t think she’s intimidating, just strong willed. She cares really strongly about things. I-it’s really admirable, actually. And she’s really helpful, and she was so nice to me earlier, and—“ Asriel raised a paw to cut her off.  
“Okay, I get the picture. She’s a really great friend. Glad to see that you two are getting along so well.” There was a mischievous grin on his face after he said that. Alphys began to feel even more flustered.  
“H-hey, it’s not like that, I just—“ Asriel cut her off again.  
“I didn’t say anything. Hey, can you help me with this hellebore?”

Asgore wasn’t teaching class today, probably due to the fallout of that article, but Dogamy and Dogaressa had stepped in once more. They didn’t do any actual teaching, just supervised, since the students were in the middle of a project. The idea was to grow plants that would be used in a potion later, so Asriel and Alphys were planning on using their hellebore to make the Draught of Peace. Alphys was hoping that if she mastered that one, perhaps she could ease her anxiety a bit. It was a long shot, but anything that would make her guilt less biting would be a godsend.

By the time dinner rolled around, Alphys was quite tired. It had been an exhausting day. Mettablook and Napstablook called her over to sit next to them as usual. It was always nice to finish off the day with the ghost cousins. Mettablook was going on and on about the article still, and Napstablook interjected occasionally with a quiet comment. After a long tirade about respecting the privacy of the school, Mettablook casually asked Alphys how her day was. The moment Alphys mentioned Undyne, Mettablook turned a shade of bright magenta.

“Ooooh! Alphys, do you know what Undyne said to me today?” Alphys was confused. Luckily, Napstablook asked the question that was on her mind.  
“i thought you didn’t have any classes with undyne…” They mumbled.  
“Well, I don’t. She came up to me in the hallway.” Now Alphys was really concerned.  
“W-what did she say?” The lizard asked, worry seeping into her tone.  
“She said she’d seen me sitting with you in the great hall, and asked if I was friends with you. I said yes, of course, and she said to make sure that you were okay, since you’d seemed pretty shaken up earlier. Isn’t that sweet?” Alphys was dumbstruck. Undyne had cared that much about how she was doing? She didn’t even know what to say. At least, she didn’t know what to say until Mettablook decided to open his mouth again. “You two are so cute.” For what seemed like the millionth time that day, Alphys turned a shade of bright red.  
“M-Mettablook! It’s not like that!” As much as she protested, Mettablook wouldn’t wipe the smug grin off his face, and she couldn’t get Napstablook to side with her either. And, as much as she protested, part of her was wondering, if it was like that, would she really mind?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I hope I did this chapter justice. I wanted to sprinkle a bit of underlying plot in there, but also satisfy some of the need for more Alphyne, since the world always needs more of that. As usual, if you liked the chapter, please tell me, and if you have any constructive criticism, please tell me that as well! I always enjoy seeing what you have to say.  
> As usual, thank you for reading, and have a great day!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys gets flustered a lot. Also flying.

Alphys continued to bicker with Mettablook for the rest of dinner. She insisted that her feelings toward Undyne were strictly platonic, even as her cheeks were turning a bright red. When she tried to call on Napstablook for help, they simple shrugged and said,  
“i think it might be nice…” When she started to get really flustered, though, Mettablook took her various hints and dropped the matter. Alphys sighed in relief when he switched the topic to Asgore and Toriel’s absence from the head table. As much as he could be self-absorbed and dramatic, Mettablook was a good friend.  
“So, how much do you think Toriel’s yelled at Asgore today?” Mettablook asked, swallowing a spoonful of ghost soup. Napstablook and Alphys shrugged.  
“P-probably a lot? I don’t know. I g-get that it’s a big deal, but I d-don’t see why everyone’s making it into this huge scandal.” Alphys admitted, twirling some of her ramen around on her fork absentmindedly. Mettablook’s eyes widened, and even Napstablook looked a bit surprised, if turning a slightly lighter shade of blue counted as surprised.

“You haven’t heard? This isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened.” Alphys’s eyes widened.  
“R-really?” She asked, worry seeping into her tone. Mettablook nodded vigorously.  
“Yeah. Last year, three people fell down and had to go to St. Mungo’s. It was all over the Prophet. Everyone’s getting pretty antsy at this point.” The ghost explained, turning a darker shade of pink as he donned a serious expression. “The question is, who’s doing it, and why?” Alphys knew that the news that others had suffered the same fate as Shyren’s sister shouldn’t make her feel relieved, but she couldn’t help it. It meant that it couldn’t possibly be her doing it. Still, though, if this continued, what would happen to the school? Alphys didn’t want to leave until she knew at least some of the scope of her powers.

She was so wrapped up in thought that she didn’t even notice Undyne walking up to her until the fish monster sat down right beside her.  
“Hey, Alphys!” Undyne said, a huge grin on her face. Alphys jumped, dropping her fork into the ramen bowl with a clatter. Mettablook had a huge grin on his face, and even Napstablook seemed mildly interested in what was going on. Undyne was completely oblivious to all of that, however, and was focused only on Alphys.  
“H-hi, Undyne! What are you d-doing over here?” Alphys asked, cursing her stutter now more than ever. Undyne’s grin grew a bit wider.  
“Can’t a friend stop by and say hi once in a while?” Alphys’s eyes widened and her mind began racing, trying to amend her slipup. “I am here for a reason, though. Asriel just told me that Toriel made a change in the schedule for tomorrow. She’s going to be away all day, so all Transfiguration classes will be replaced with flying lessons!” 

Alphys was instantly overwhelmed with a nervous feeling. Flying? She had forgotten that that was part of their curriculum. It was incredibly scary to her. After all, she could barely walk without tripping over her own feet—how was she supposed to fly? “Isn’t that great?” Alphys gulped.  
“Y-yeah. Great.” At her less than enthusiastic response, Undyne looked a little confused.  
“You okay, Alphys? ‘Cause it doesn’t sound like you think it’s great.” Alphys focused on twirling her ramen again, refusing to meet Undyne’s eye.  
“I’m j-just a little scared. It’s nothing. D-don’t worry about it.” She replied, trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice. Undyne quickly wrapped her up in a sideways hug. Alphys expected her to break every bone in her body, but Undyne was actually quite gentle.  
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. If you get scared, I’ll be right there with you! I’ll be right there every step of the way.” Alphys couldn’t help but smile a little. That was reassuring, at least.

“UNDYNE!” Alphys suddenly heard Papyrus yell from across the hall. “CHARA SAYS THAT YOU CAN’T CARRY ALL OF US ON YOUR BACK!”  
“WHAT?” Undyne called back, releasing Alphys from the hug. “I’LL BE RIGHT THERE!” She stood up, giving Alphys a smile before running back across the hall. “See you tomorrow, Alphys!” The fish monster called out behind her. Alphys’s face was bright red. When she looked back to Mettablook and Napstablook, Mettablook seemed like he was about to squeal, and Napstablook had a small smile on his face.  
“W-what?” She asked, a little embarrassed.  
“I didn’t say anything.” Mettablook replied, though he was grinning like someone had just placed a steak in the shape of his face in front of him. After a bit more small talk, they bade each other farewell, and Alphys made the long trek up to Ravenclaw tower alone. After answering the riddle—“What gets wetter the more it dries”—Alphys headed up the spiral staircase to her room. It was still relatively early, so she began working on her homework. By the time Sans walked into the lamplit dorm, the moon was high in the sky.

“still up doing work?” He asked, sitting down on his bed. His sheets were still in a ball, and Alphys had no idea how he slept, but she hadn’t asked.  
“Y-yeah.” There was another reason that Alphys had decided to stay up. That encounter with the boggart and that article had dredged up her old mistakes again in her memories, and as a result, she wanted to avoid sleep for as long as possible. It was almost a guarantee that she’d have nightmares at this point. “D-don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” Alphys added, though the yawn at the end of her sentence didn’t help her convince him. Sans looked skeptical.  
“come on, roomie. bedtime.” Alphys shook her head. Sans sighed and walked over to see what she was working on. “this isn’t even homework. what are you doing?”  
“Mettablook said that he wanted a corporeal body. I thought that I might help him design one, while I had the time.” Alphys explained, gesturing to the code she had written and the blueprints she had sketched.

“what’s that variable called ‘undyne’ do?” Sans asked. Alphys rushed to hide the code she was looking at, but in the process, knocked most of the papers off of her desk.  
“N-nothing! It’s just a placeholder name until I come up with something more suitable.” Alphys explained hastily. Sans didn’t look convinced.  
“time for bed. come on.” Sans took her arm and began pulling her towards her bed. Alphys struggled, but his grip was tighter than she expected, and she was quite tired. “there you go.” Sans said reassuringly as she climbed in bed. She could already feel herself beginning to drift off by the time she had nestled herself under the covers, but there was still something on her mind.

“Sans?”  
“yeah?”  
“Do you ever w-wonder if you’ve done everything wrong in your life? L-like, you’ve s-screwed up and you don’t know if you can ever f-fix it? A-and, every time you try, it just comes b-back?” There was silence for a moment.  
“i can’t honestly say that i have.”  
“W-well, if you did ever feel that w-way, what would you d-do?”  
“i’d say to myself that tomorrow is a new day. no matter what happened today, or yesterday, or the day before that, there’s always a second chance waiting. it’s never too late to reset.” Alphys thought about that for a moment. It did help a little.  
“Good night, Sans.”  
“night, alphys.” 

Alphys had a dreamless sleep, luckily enough. She and Sans went downstairs together, then split off to their separate groups when they got to the great hall, as usual. Alphys had a calm breakfast with Napstablook and Mettablook, and headed off to potions with the latter. Potions was proving to be her favorite class. She picked up on it relatively easily, and it was fun to learn. However, Mettablook and Chara had different thoughts about it.  
“This is so boooring.” Mettablook groaned. Chara nodded in earnest. Sans just shrugged. They were currently preparing the ingredients for the draught of living death, though they weren’t actually allowed to make the potion. Professor Gaster was afraid that one of them might misuse it if they made it correctly. Chara in particular disliked Gaster, but Alphys thought he was very clever.

Today, however, Professor Gaster seemed rather strained. He was pacing around the room far more than usual, and was much more harsh when observing students’ techniques. When he stopped next to Sans and Chara’s station, he frowned.  
“Sans, this root of asphodel isn’t nearly powdered enough! And Chara, I don’t know where the other half of this sloth brain went, but a whole one is needed for this recipe.” Chara reached for Sans’s knife, but Gaster snatched it away before they could reach it, handing it to Sans, who took it reluctantly. Gaster frowned, then moved on to Mettablook and Alphys’s station. “Mettablook, you need more Sopophorous bean juice. There should be more in the cabinet up front. And Alphys—“ Alphys braced herself for the worst. She had never reacted well to criticism, even if it was constructive criticism.

“—Excellent work as usual. Everything here is perfect.” Alphys let out a sigh of relief. Gaster gave her an approving nod, then moved on to criticize the next pair of students.  
“Who put a spider in his soup today?” Mettablook grumbled as he floated away to get more juice. Alphys had to wonder what had put him in such a bad mood, but decided not to dwell on it too much. After all, he had just praised her work. She headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts in good spirits, and, luckily, they were taking notes today. Gerson wasn’t a huge fan of notetaking, but he had acknowledged that it was important, though, in his opinion, not as important as hands-on experience. As usual, Undyne asked how Alphys was feeling that day, and Alphys responded with a “fine” a bit too quickly. Undyne seemed to know that she was hesitant about the flying lesson, and, instead of trying to get more out of her, simply gave her another quick hug before returning her attention to Gerson at the chalkboard.

By the time she got to Charms, Alphys was really starting to panic. Sans gave her the usual breathing advice, which helped to a point, and Frisk gave her a note that read “You can do it!” She was quite grateful for them, of course, and it was helpful, but only to a point. She met up with Undyne outside the exit to the ground, and when Alphys was hesitant about going outside, Undyne gave her a small smile and took her hand. Alphys followed her outside after that, trying to focus on her hand in Undyne’s strong grip instead of the idea of flying. A bird monster with a red bowtie stood in front of a line of brooms. Papyrus jogged over to join them, a huge smile on his face.

“WOWIE! I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE REALLY GOING TO BE FLYING!” He exclaimed happily.   
“But Papyrus, you’ve flown before!” Undyne said, nudging him with her shoulder.  
“YES! BUT NOW WE’RE AT SCHOOL!” Papyrus replied enthusiastically. Undyne chuckled.  
“Never change, Papyrus.”  
“WHY WOULD I EVER WANT TO CHANGE? I’M PERFECT JUST THE WAY I AM!”  
“You sure are, buddy.” She replied, still holding Alphys’s hand. The bird monster raised his wing.  
“Hello, everyone. I’m Daddrake, Snowdrakes fathah.” He gestured to a similar looking bird monster standing off in the corner, who huffed and turned away. Daddrake sighed.  
“I’m going to be teaching you flying today. But first, how many of you have already been flying before?” Undyne, Papyrus, and several others raised their hands/various appendages.  
“Good. Still, I’m going to encourage you all to be careful. I may be a terrible fathah, but I’m not a terrible teachah. So, first, stand next to your broom of choice, hold out your hand to it, and say, ‘up!’” Undyne (much to Alphys’s chagrin) let go of Alphys’s hand to hold it over her broom. Alphys did the same. Undyne’s broom immediately jumped into her hand, while Alphys’s simply shuddered. Alphys tried repeatedly to get the broom to obey her wishes. She eventually stopped, upset that she couldn’t do this one simple thing.

“Hey, Alphys!” Undyne had mounted her broom and was hovering in front of her. “Try being more assertive!”  
“A-assertive?” Alphys asked. Undyne nodded vigorously.  
“Yeah! Show that broom who’s boss!” Undyne exclaimed excitedly.  
“I-I don’t know if I can...” Alphys admitted. Undyne was unperturbed.  
“Sure you can! Repeat after me! I am a DELIGHT!”  
“I…I am a delight.”  
“Louder! I am AMAZING!”  
“I am amazing!”  
“More feeling! I am SUPER GREAT!” Undyne was getting more and more excited.  
“I am super great!”  
“I can do ANYTHING I WANT!”  
“I can do anything I want!”  
“UP!”  
“Up!” The broom shot up into Alphys’s open hand. Alphys gave Undyne a smile. Undyne had an even bigger grin on her own face.  
“Yeah! You did it!”

The rest of the flying class passed easily enough. Alphys almost fell off of her broom several times, but with Undyne’s help and encouragement, she didn’t feel too bad about it. “You were so great today, Alphys!” Undyne said once they had dismounted and were heading back inside.  
“I-I only could do it b-because you helped me.” Alphys replied with a shrug, though she was actually feeling quite good about herself at the moment.  
“Hey, you had it in you all along! You can do whatever you want! You’re AWESOME!” Alphys blushed. When she looked back at Undyne, she could almost swear that the fish monster’s face had turned a darker shade of teal. “Um, will you look at the time! I have to go to my next class. Bye!” With a quick wave, Undyne dashed away, leaving Alphys a bit flustered, but also with a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there you have it! I hope you guys liked this chapter. If you did, please leave a comment! And, if you have any constructive criticism for me, I would love to hear that as well! Thank you to everyone for your support so far. It's been great!  
> As usual, thank you for reading and have a great day!


	9. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne gets kind of flustered. So does Alphys.  
> That's mostly it.

It wasn’t until dinner that Alphys saw Undyne again. The lizard was having ramen again—this time beef flavored—when Undyne sat down next to her so hard that the bench shuddered. The fork dropped out of her hand, and her face turned red.  
“Hello, Undyne! What brings you over to this neck of the woods?” Mettablook asked, shooting Alphys a mischievous grin.  
“I just wanted to congratulate Alphys on how well she did during her flying lesson! She was great!” Undyne answered happily. Alphys let out a shaky laugh.  
“I didn’t do great at all! I almost fell off a bunch of times. I couldn’t even get the broom to jump into my hand without your help.” Alphys replied, eyes fixed on her noodles. Undyne clapped her on the back.  
“You did awesome, Alphys! There’s no problem with needing some help once in a while. Besides, it was your first time! You’ll get it down, I promise.” Alphys looked up at Undyne, who was beaming. A warm feeling spread throughout her chest.

“I actually wanted to thank you. I never would have gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for your help.” Alphys responded.  
“It’s no problem! I’m always happy to help you—er, a friend—out! Besides, you had it in you to fly all along. I was just there to guide you.” Alphys couldn’t help but smile.  
“Hey, how did you learn to fly, anyways?” Alphys asked, curious. She didn’t really know that much about Undyne’s home life, and wasn’t even sure if she had any siblings. “Did your family teach you?” A flash of some indistinguishable emotion flickered across Undyne’s face, but when she shook her head, her grin was as big as ever.

“Nope! Papyrus and Sans taught me. Or, more accurately, Papyrus taught me, and Sans just kind of watched in the background. We used to play quidditch in their backyard. It’s kind of out in the country, so no muggles will spot us. Papyrus is a great Chaser. Sans is an okay Keeper, but we had to keep him from cheating. He kept moving the ball with magic. If I get on the Gryffindor quidditch team, I’d want to be a beater! I’ve never practiced with a real bludger, but it seems fun.” Undyne continued, miming swinging a bat.  
“I think you’d be really good at that!” Alphys said, and Undyne’s grin grew even wider.  
“Really? Thanks!” She replied happily. Alphys was distracted slightly by Mettablook and Napstablook, who were bright shades of magenta and blue respectively. Mettablook was about five seconds away from squealing out of excitement, and Napstablook had an uncharacteristically large smile on his face.

“You’re a really great person, Alphys.” Undyne suddenly blurted out. Alphys was caught by surprise.  
“What?” Alphys asked, sure that she had misheard Undyne.  
“I mean, you’re so nice and friendly, and I just…” Undyne trailed off, turning away. Alphys could have sworn that there was a hint of a blush on her face. “I just wanted to make sure that you knew that you’re awesome. You know.” Alphys was definitely blushing at this point.  
“I…thank you, Undyne.” She replied, reaching for her fork. Undyne turned back around, and her hand brushed Alphys’s. They both pulled back, and it was clear that Undyne’s face was definitely turning a darker shade of teal.  
“No problem.” Undyne answered, almost mumbling.  
“Ahem.” Mettablook coughed, a huge grin on his face. Undyne stood up abruptly, almost as though she’d forgotten they were there.  
“I mean, um, I’m tough! I love to eat rocks!” Undyne proclaimed, looking more and more flustered. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alphys!” She turned and ran back to her table, where Sans was balancing hotdogs on Frisk’s head. Alphys turned to Mettablook, who twirled around in midair.

“You two are ADORABLE!” The ghost exclaimed happily. Alphys tossed a stick of pocky at him—somehow the spider chefs had gotten ahold of it, or they made their own—but it simply sailed right through his incorporeal form.  
“B-be quiet...” She muttered, stirring her noodles with her fork.  
“Alright, fine. I’ll shut up. But let me just say one thing.” Alphys held up a claw.  
“One thing. One thing, and then you’re done.” She replied sternly. Mettablook nodded.  
“You know, you didn’t stutter once when you were talking with her.” Alphys opened her mouth to protest, but then realized that he was entirely correct. She hadn’t slipped up on any words.  
“And also—“ Mettablook began, before Alphys threw another stick of pocky at him.  
“Hey, I have some p-plans for your corporeal body.” Alphys recalled around a mouthful of noodles. Mettablook’s eyes widened, clearly excited at the prospect.  
“Ooh, ooh! Show me!” Alphys swallowed her noodles and cleared a spot on the table. She pulled the blueprints out of her bag, spreading them on the table. Mettablook hovered over them, eyes darting over the code before fixating on the sketch of his body.

“Oh my gosh…Alphys, this is perfect!” He exclaimed happily. “I would hug you if I could.” Napstablook looked over the plans too, though any traces of happiness they might have displayed were long gone.  
“yeah…it looks cool…i guess…” They mumbled, sounding more morose than usual. They had returned to a darker shade of blue, sinking down into their seat a bit. Alphys frowned not wanting to make them uncomfortable, though she didn’t know what had upset them. She snatched the plans off the table, then rolled them up and stuffed them back in her bag.  
“I-it’s just a prototype! But I think the school might have enough spare materials for me to use. Of c-course, we’ll have to get you into a test body first, to see how you’ll do with being corporeal, but I think it’ll turn out great.” Mettablook had a massive grin on his face.  
“Thank you so much, darling. I’m sure that if you’re doing it, it’ll be lovely.” For a few moments, everything seemed alright. Then Alphys looked around, and noticed that half of the great hall was empty.

“I should get back up to the Ravenclaw tower. I have a lot of homework to do.” Alphys quickly downed the rest of her ramen, bade the two ghosts a quick farewell, and then dashed up the stairs to the tower as fast as her short legs could manage. She spent most of the evening doing her homework in the common room before heading up to her dorm. Sans was already there, sitting on his bed, poring over what appeared to be a physics book.  
“Hey, Sans. Are you okay?” Alphys asked. Sans looked contemplative.  
“yeah. fine. there’s just something bothering me…” He snapped the book shut, giving her his trademark goofy grin. “but it’s no problem. i’ll be right back. try to get some shuteye.” Alphys nodded as he left the room. She was a little concerned, but too tired to ask more. Slipping into her pajamas, she climbed into her bed, sighing. For now, at least, everything seemed to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I just wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for the support I've received on this story. It's always lovely to see that people enjoy it.  
> Sadly, I've been pretty busy this weekend, so I'm afraid this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. Sorry! But I'll do my best in the coming weeks to provide you with the regular length chapters.  
> Anyways, if you liked this story, please comment and let me know! And, if you have any constructive criticism, please tell me that as well! I always love hearing what all of you have to say.  
> As usual, thanks for reading, and have a great day.


	10. Disappeared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A professor goes missing, and everyone can't seem to make head or tail of it.

Of course, nothing gold can stay.  
Alphys’s day started out normally enough—she got out of bed, got changed, and went down to the dining hall with Sans, laughing and joking all along the way. She was in a better mood than usual. Memories of Undyne’s kind words yesterday had kept the dark at bay, at least for now. She was feeling pretty great about the coming day, and about herself, for once. Sans seemed to notice, and from the slyness of his grin, he seemed to know why. Still, he didn’t say anything teasing, content to simply shoot the breeze about anything that seemed to come up. 

They split up at the great hall, as usual, and Alphys enjoyed a friendly, casual breakfast with the ghost cousins. Mettaton was talking about this absolutely ravishing dress that he had seen Aaron wearing—Aaron had lost a bet—and was going on and on about how he should wear it more often. Napstablook and Alphys were content to let him do most of the talking. Alphys didn’t even notice that three teachers were missing from the table at the front of the hall. She was too focused on how, when she had given Undyne a small wave from across the hall, the fish monster had jumped to her feet, a huge grin on her face as she waved enthusiastically back.

Once they arrived in potions, however, it was clear that something was wrong. Professor Gaster hadn’t arrived yet. Professor Gaster was never late to potions, and took punctuality very seriously. In fact, Chara and Sans had been reprimanded harshly for showing up just a few minutes late. Everyone sat in silence for a little while, afraid to start talking in case Gaster suddenly swooped in. However, as 5 minutes turned to 10 and then 15, nervous muttering swept around the room, until everyone was speculating wildly about what had happened.

“I h-hope he’s alr-right.” Alphys mumbled under her breath. Potions was her favorite subject, after all, and she liked Professor Gaster, even though he could be harsh at times. Chara overheard her and snorted with laughter.  
“I hope he’s not. Uptight old fool.” Chara replied haughtily, crossing their arms in a defiant position.  
“Oh, is someone upset because they got their knife taken away from them?” Mettablook teased. Chara’s frown deepened, but they shook their head.

“No, that’s not it. He used to get in these huge arguments with dad. I don’t know what it was about, but Gaster would always end up yelling and storming out.” Chara explained. Alphys was confused. Gaster had never seemed to be the type of monster to yell. Even when he scolded Chara for disobeying instructions or Sans for only half completing his potion, it was always in a level, even tone.  
“what were they fighting about?” Sans asked, clearly interested as well. Chara shrugged.  
“I don’t know. But dad was always really upset after Gaster left. He’d never tell me what it was about. But nobody gets to pick on my dad like that. Nobody…except mom, I guess. But even she’s more polite than Gaster.”

They sat in silence for a bit after that, until they heard some frantic muttering outside the door. Asgore stepped in, quickly followed by Toriel. Neither one of them looked pleased.  
“Hello, students. I’m sure you’re all wondering about where Professor Gaster is.” Asgore began. Even though he looked a bit distressed, his tone was as calming and pleasant as usual. “There is no cause for alarm. We simply have some…things to work out. In the meantime, we will be escorting all of you to the library. You will have a free period for the rest of this class. We apologize for the confusion.” Asgore continued. They all filed out of the classroom, following Asgore and Toriel, who were whispering furiously to each other. Nobody spoke until they reached the library. Sans seemed to have disappeared, even though Alphys could have sworn that he was right next to them a second ago, but Mettablook and Chara had stuck with her.

“I w-wonder what h-happened to him…” Alphys said. Despite the fact that she loved reading, and that the library was one of her favorite places, she couldn’t concentrate at the moment. Chara shrugged, though they looked a little concerned as well.  
“Mom and dad looked pretty worried. Maybe it is something terrible…” Despite the fact that they seemed to hate Gaster, Chara didn’t sound happy. “I hope it doesn’t mean any more trouble for the school.” Alphys hoped so too. Mettablook turned a light shade of magenta, seemingly trying to think.  
“Do you think he’s in St. Mungo’s?” He speculated.

“nope. i saw him earlier. he’s definitely still on the grounds somewhere.” Sans had reappeared, leaning against a bookshelf. Alphys was confused by his statement.  
“W-what do you mean, you s-saw him? I was w-with you since we left Ravenclaw tower. How you could have seen him?” The lizard asked.   
“oh, right. i haven’t shown you guys the map yet. well, now’s as good a time as any.” Sans pulled what seemed to be a blank, tattered scroll of paper out of his pocket and tapped his wand to it, muttering, “i solemnly swear i am up to no good.” After a few moments, he spread the scroll on the table, and Alphys and Mettablook gasped. There was a detailed map of the school and all of its grounds, with footprints with names beside them moving all over the map. Alphys checked the library, and sure enough, there were four sets of footprints there—Chara, Alphys, Mettablook, and Sans.

“W-what is this?” Alphys asked.  
“the marauder’s map. neat, right?” Sans replied with a grin.  
“But how did you get it?” Mettablook wondered, hovering over the map.  
“Frisk gave it to me. They found it in one of Toriel’s drawers and thought I’d get a kick out of it.” Sans answered, still grinning. They all bent over the map, pointing out monsters and people they knew before Sans spoke again.  
“but in all seriousness, gaster is on here. look.” He pointed a skeletal finger to the middle of the forbidden forest at the edge of the map. Sure enough, there was Professor W.D. Gaster.  
“W-what do you think he’s doing in there?” Alphys asked.  
“Probably nothing good.” Chara replied. Before they could say any more, class ended, and Alphys headed off to Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was a bit distracted, and apparently Undyne could tell.

“Are you okay, Alphys?” She asked, before turning around and jinxing a pesky pixie out of the air. Gerson was doing one of his hands-on classes again, and Alphys would have been bitten several times if not for Undyne and Napstablook watching her back.  
“Y-yeah. I’m fine. Just distracted.” Alphys replied, shooting a stunning spell at the nearest pixie. It missed, and the pixie zoomed towards her before a blue spell from Napstablook froze it where it flew, causing it to drop out of the air. Alphys shot them a grateful grin before leveling her wand again. “I-I’m fine.” Alphys repeated, trying to reassure herself.  
“Alright, if you say so. But I’m here if you want to talk.” Undyne replied, shooting her a toothy grin.

The rest of the day was fairly standard. Toriel was absent from Transfiguration, however, and had Dogamy and Dogaressa subbing for her again. Asgore, too, was absent from Herbology, and had Greater Dog teaching the lesson—though Greater Dog’s version of teaching was more bounding around and giving everyone a lick on the face. The atmosphere grew more and more uneasy as news of Gaster’s disappearance spread, and by the time dinner rolled around, nobody could talk about anything else. Mettablook quickly filled Napstablook in on the marauder’s map, as well as Gaster’s presence in the forbidden forest, and continued to speculate wildly about what was going on in there. Nobody besides Mettablook seemed inclined to talk very much, though. The limited conversation was punctuated by occasional claps of thunder and flashes of lightning from outside, as a storm had begun shortly after the sun set. Alphys couldn’t help but think it wouldn’t be a nice night to spend in the forbidden forest.

Once dinner was winding down, Asgore and Toriel, who had been absent for the entire meal, burst through the doors, fur and clothes soaking wet. The hall fell dead silent. Toriel seemed to be all business, and immediately strode out one of the side doors, presumably heading to her office. Asgore gave everyone a friendly wave, though he didn’t look to happy. He made his way up to the podium at the front of the hall, clearing his throat. It was deathly quiet.

“Hello, everyone!” He began, trying to sound cheery. It was relatively easy to see, however, that he wasn’t very happy.

“I’m sure that Professor Gaster has been on all of your minds. Rest assured, he is fine. He has taken a short leave to go to St. Mungo’s, as he has become suddenly ill. Until he returns, Dogamy and Dogaressa will be substituting for your potions classes.” A burst of chatter spread out at that, and Asgore raised his hands in a quieting gesture.  
“I am sure you are all concerned and confused. But do not worry. The matter is well under control. Now, have a good evening.” Asgore turned on his heel and left the great hall through the same door Toriel left through a few minutes ago.

“Why would they say that he’s in St. Mungo’s if he’s in the forbidden forest?” Mettablook asked. Neither Napstablook nor Alphys dared to answer. The rest of the dinner was spent in somewhat uncomfortable silence, and Alphys headed up to the Ravenclaw tower with a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Sans was in their dorm when she arrived, map spread out on the table.  
“yep. he’s definitely not in st. mungo’s.” Alphys walked over to stand next to him and, sure enough, there was Gaster’s dot, in the same place it had been in several hours ago.  
“Well, w-what about it? It’s n-not like we can d-do anything.” Sans rolled up the map, tucking it in his pocket once more.  
“we can. he might be hurt out there or something, and they’re lying to save face.” Sans replied.  
“You’re n-not saying…”  
“that we go into the forbidden forest? no, i’m not saying we should necessarily do that. but i am saying we should be careful, and pay attention to what’s going on for the next few days.” Alphys shrugged, a sinking feeling in her stomach. “just keep your eyes and ears open. who knows, maybe everything is fine.” Sans shuffled over to the door. “night, alphys. try not to keep yourself awake.”  
Good advice that was impossible to follow. It was late by the time that Alphys managed to close her eyes, and even then, her sleep was inconsistent, filled with empty, confusing dreams that all seemed to be telling her that something was wrong, terribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was that! We're starting to get into plot territory, but don't worry, I'll make sure that the Alphyne isn't forgotten.  
> As usual, thank you for all the support that you guys have given me! It's truly incredible. Thank you so much! You're all so sweet. Anyways, if you liked this, please be sure to leave me a comment! And, if you have any constructive criticism or feedback, be sure to tell me that as well!  
> As usual, thank you for reading, and have a great day!


	11. Mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster is on everyone's mind, and Sans makes a decision.

The next day, the atmosphere was a bit tense, as one would expect. Sans didn’t mention the idea of going out into the forest until they had reached the great hall. Alphys bade him farewell and turned to join the ghost cousins, but he grabbed her shoulder. When she returned his attention to him, he looked deadly serious.  
“remember what i said. keep your eyes and ears open.” Alphys felt a rush of anxiety wash over her, and she nodded. He let go, plastered his normal goofy grin on his face, and shuffled over to sit with to Mettablook and Napstablook. They didn’t say much, passing idle conversation about the weather, classes the previous day, homework, anything but the burning absence of Gaster, Asgore, and Toriel at the teacher’s table.

 

The stairs down to the dungeon were guarded by a large dog, who held a sign directing them to the library. Mettablook and Alphys entered the library to see Sans and Chara already there, seated at a table near the back. Chara was twirling their wand around lazily, and Sans had his back to the rest of the group, seemingly poring over the marauder’s map. Alphys dimly recognized that the secret passages she had spotted on the map were probably how he disappeared and reappeared in other places so quickly.

 

“I guess Gaster’s out still, huh?” Mettablook said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Chara shrugged, Alphys nodded, and Sans made no move to acknowledge the ghost’s words, still apparently deep in thought.  
“Y-yeah. I’m k-kind of w-worried.” Alphys muttered, and Mettablook nodded.  
“As much as he’s strict and annoying, it would be dreadful if something terrible has happened to him. Think of what it would mean for the school!” The ghost replied. Chara narrowed their eyes, their grip on their wand tightening. Sans turned around, rolling up the map and stuffing it in his pocket.  
“like i thought, he’s still in the forbidden forest. i haven’t seen anyone else head out there, either. he might be in trouble.” The skeleton explained. Chara suddenly jumped to their feet, slamming their hands down on the table.

 

“Why do you care if something happened? I hope that he’s hurt! I hope that something bad’s happened to him! And if it has, then he deserves to be left alone, to get out of the mess he probably put himself in!” They shouted. Everyone else in the library had turned to look at them, and Chara turned and stormed away, wand clenched in their fist.  
“Wow.” Mettablook was the first to speak after several moments of silence. The rest of the library lapsed into the usual whispers and flutter of pages, and Mettablook was a dark shade of magenta, hovering several inches above his chair. “That was unexpected.” Sans shrugged, sitting down at Chara’s now unoccupied seat.

 

“give ‘em a break. they’re just a kid, after all.” Mettablook seemed confused. Alphys was a little perplexed, too.  
“What do you mean?” Mettaton prompted.  
“how old are you, mettablook?” Sans asked, leaning back in his chair.  
“16. Why?” The ghost answered. Sans nodded before turning to Alphys.  
“what about you?”  
“17.” She replied.  
“You still haven’t told us what you’re trying to get at here.” Mettablook asked.  
“what i’m getting at is this. i’m 18, paps is 13, and undyne’s 17. asriel, chara, and frisk, though, are all 10.” Sans explained. Alphys was surprised.  
“R-really? How does that work?” Up until now, she had figured that they were younger, but not by how much.  
“from what I understand, hogwarts sends out letters based on when their scouts think you’re ready to learn how to use your magic. if you’re a late bloomer, you get a letter later. since their parents are the heads of the school, asriel, chara, and frisk basically lived here for most of their lives, so they were more accustomed to magic, and they were enrolled earlier. but, as smart as all of them are, they’re still just kids.” Alphys had to say that that made sense. She had wondered how Sans could be Papyrus’s older brother and still be in the same year.  
“How d-do you know all of that, Sans?” Alphys asked. He didn’t seem like the type to be that well versed in school policy.  
“undyne introduced me to the dreemurrs a couple of years ago. we hit it off right away. chara’s a bit explosive, as you’ve seen, but they’re good kids. and their parents try hard to keep them all happy, even though they’re separated.”

 

They spent the rest of the period working on classwork. Sans told Mettablook to watch out for any information on Gaster in case he was in danger, and Mettablook agreed. Alphys went to Defense Against the Dark Arts with worry eating at her brain, but Undyne always managed to cheer her up, and Napstablook’s quiet support was comforting. She left in higher spirits, but the somber mood in Charms, with Sans surreptitiously checking the marauder’s map every few minutes and Frisk shooting anxious glances at the door as if expecting Asgore or Toriel to burst in at any second, didn’t help her very much.

 

The lizard ran into Undyne on her way to Transfiguration, and they walked together, joking and laughing together, until they spotted Toriel talking urgently to Asgore just outside the classroom. Alphys wanted to just walk past them, but something that Undyne heard made her fins flare up. She pulled Alphys behind a corner, just within earshot.  
“I don’t think they heard us.” She whispered, before falling quiet. Toriel and Asgore sounded as though they wanted to be quiet, but the urgency of their tones was doing them a disservice.  
“—Do not tell me to calm down, Dreemurr! You know that this is an urgent matter! If the Prophet finds out—“  
“Toriel, it’s fine. Just because we haven’t found him yet doesn’t mean that we won’t. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”  
“Asgore, do you realize what another scandal could do to the school? We have not gotten a lead about those who have fallen down yet, and after all the trouble we had trying to locate enough teachers just for this year, what are we going to do if we cannot find him?”  
“We’ll figure it out, Tori.”  
“Do not call me that.” 

 

Alphys heard footsteps approaching their corner, and Undyne quickly pulled her into a vacant classroom. Underneath the door, she saw Toriel’s paws pass by. She let out a sigh of relief, which quickly turned into a gasp when Undyne threw open the door at the approach of another pair of footsteps.  
“Dad!” Asgore came to a stop outside the classroom.  
“Undyne! What are you doing in there?” He asked, peering over her shoulder to see Alphys, who was trying to hide behind the fish monster. He gave her a friendly wave, which she tentatively returned.  
“It’s not important.” Undyne replied quickly. “That sounded pretty intense. Was that about Gaster?” She asked, concerned. Asgore seemed to deflate a little.  
“Yes. But don’t worry about it. We have the matter under control.” He replied, sounding as though he had recited those words several times before.  
“Dad, we might have a lead. We think Gaster is in the forbidden forest.” Asgore raised his eyebrows a little and brought a paw to his chin, seemingly considering it.

 

“Undyne, I know you want to help. But we’re spread very thin as it is. Dogamy and Dogaressa sweep the edges of the forbidden forest every night. Don’t you think they would have seen him go in?” Undyne looked uneasy.  
“I guess…But what if he is in there, and he’s in trouble?” She shot back. Asgore sighed.  
“We’ll have to take our chances. Now, shouldn’t you be in class?” Undyne nodded and walked past him, fins drooping. Alphys followed her, but was taken aback when the fish monster dashed past her to give the headmaster a hug.  
“Be careful, okay, dad?” She said, and his gaze softened.  
“Of course.”

 

When they got to Transfiguration, Alphys couldn’t help but ask.  
“Asgore’s your dad?” It just seemed odd. She was much older than Frisk, Asriel, or Chara, but she avoided talking to Toriel and had no qualms with Asgore, even though, if she was adopted, she would have been around before their separation.  
“Well…kind of.” The fish monster replied, looking up from her textbook. “It’s a long story.”  
“WOWIE!” Papyrus exclaimed, giving Undyne and incredulous look. “I DIDN’T KNOW THAT HE WAS YOUR DAD, TOO! THAT’S AMAZING! CAN YOU TELL HIM TO GIVE ME PRIVATE LESSONS, TOO?”  
“Maybe later, Papyrus. I think you’re plenty good on your own!” Undyne replied, seeming a bit less uncomfortable at the mention of private lessons. Perhaps she had gotten over it. Alphys decided not to push the matter, figuring that Undyne would tell her if she ever wanted to.

 

Undyne filled Papyrus in on what she had overheard in the hallway, and he promised to tell Sans as soon as possible. Alphys was a bit worried that the overzealous skeleton would tell half the school, but Undyne said he was good at keeping secrets when he needed to. When Alphys went to Herbology, she found Asriel waiting for her, and no Asgore, as she had expected.  
“Hey, so I know you guys are worried about Gaster and all, and Sans told us his plan. And I get that he’s worried about him or something, but if you go out into the forbidden forest, Chara and I won’t be coming. Chara says they already told you about their opinions on Gaster?” Alphys nodded.  
“Then you understand.”  
“I g-guess so.” Asriel could apparently tell that Alphys was getting a little more anxious at the prospect of fewer people to venture out into the forbidden forest with, and he gave her a small smile.  
“Hey, it’s not like we’re going to leave you high and dry. We’re going to figure out some kind of system so that if something goes wrong, we can get help back here at the castle. We don’t like Gaster, but we don’t want to see you guys get hurt, either.” Alphys smiled back tentatively. Maybe they weren’t all going to die on their expedition out there.

 

“D-do you know wh-why Sans is so set on getting out there and saving him?” Alphys asked.  
“I think that they’re related in some way. Maybe Gaster is his uncle or grandpa or something. I get it if he wants to look after his family. I’m not sure if that’s true, though. Sans is always kind of cagey about it, and Papyrus doesn’t seem to know a thing.” They spent the rest of their class focused on the more docile plants in the garden, since they figured that they could both use some downtime after the panic the school had been whipped into.

 

Once it was dinnertime, everyone was still uneasy about Gaster’s disappearance, but the hubbub had died down somewhat. Mettablook and Napstablook were a bit more talkative, at least, and by the time Alphys decided to head up to Ravenclaw tower, she had almost forgotten about the whole unsavory business. It wasn’t until she entered her and Sans’s dorm that she remembered. He was sitting on his bed, looking out into the forbidden forest. The map was unrolled on the nightstand next to him.

 

“papyrus told me what you and undyne heard.” Sans said, turning to face her once she crossed the threshold.  
“Y-yeah.” Alphys replied nervously.  
“and she told me that asgore and toriel aren’t willing to help.” He continued. Alphys gulped.  
“Y-yeah.” Sans pulled his wand out of his pocket and waved it in the air. The map rolled itself up, tucking itself in the open nightstand drawer.  
“but we know he’s in there. the map doesn’t lie.”  
“Y-yeah.”  
“so it’s decided.” Alphys knew what was going to come next, but that didn’t mean she liked it.  
“we’re going into the forbidden forest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! As usual, I am blown away by the amount of support I have received from all of you guys. Thank you all so much.  
> If you liked this chapter or just the fic in general, please leave a comment! I always love reading them. And if you have some constructive criticism or anything else you would like to say, I would love to hear that as well!  
> As usual, thank you for reading and have a great day.


	12. Old Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to the forbidden forest. Old wounds resurface.

The next day was Saturday, and Sans had gathered Undyne, Papyrus, Alphys, and Frisk in a secluded corner of the grounds to discuss what they were going to do that night. It was a lovely day out—fluffy clouds drifted lazily across the bright blue sky. It was surprisingly warm for late October, and the trees in the forbidden forest were vibrant shades of orange and red. Not at all the kind of day you would expect a terrifying plan to be discussed on.

 

“so, mettablook, napstablook, asriel, and chara have opted to stay back and keep watch. mettablook and napstablook will be at the edge of the forest, watching and listening for any noises. if they hear anything worrying, then they’ll tell dogamy or dogaressa, or alert chara and asriel. the rest of us will be going into the forest.” Sans explained, drawing a diagram in the dirt with a stick. “there will be two teams—“

“D-don’t you think that’s a bad idea? There’s strength in n-numbers…” Alphys piped up nervously.

“Don’t worry about it, Alphys. There aren’t that many dangerous monsters or animals in the forbidden forest anymore. Gerson and Asgore did a good job negotiating with them to leave or stay away from students.” Undyne explained.

“Th-then why is it called the forbidden forest still?” Alphys asked, still uneasy. Undyne shrugged.

“Tradition, mostly. Also, it’s still dangerous to get lost in. I think there’s still some devil’s snare in some places, some giant cobwebs that haven’t been cleared out and are easy to get stuck in, stuff like that.” The fish monster replied. Alphys nodded, still not entirely convinced. Undyne noticed and gave her a small smile, resting her hand on the lizard’s shoulder.

 

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll protect you from anything that gets in our way!” Undyne reassured her.

“well, good, because you two are one team, and paps, frisk, and i are the other. you’ll go from the west side, and we’ll go from the east. that way, if there’s any unexpected danger, the other team can hopefully outflank it.” Sans had apparently thought this through. That was good, though Alphys wasn’t feeling exactly confident.

“Don’t y-you think that we might want to w-wait a little? Plan this out m-more, or t-try to ask Asgore and Toriel for help again?” Alphys questioned. Sans fixed her with a glare, and it was the first time that Alphys thought he might actually be mad at her.

 

“Don’t you understand? Gaster could be hurt in there, dying for all we know, and the others have made it clear that they’re not willing to help. This is serious. More time would be great, but we don’t have that luxury.” He replied, in a deadly serious tone of voice. Alphys was taken aback, and was fumbling for a response, but Undyne beat her to the punch.

“I think Alphys is just saying that it’s not great that we have to head in there with so little preparation.” She explained, giving the lizard’s shoulder a small squeeze. Alphys gave her a grateful smile. Sans deflated a little.

“i know. and if I thought we could spare more time…but you heard it yourself, they don’t know where he is. i know the map doesn’t display dead people, otherwise…well, it’s just best if we go right away. you’ll have to trust me.” There was a brief moment of silence, until Papyrus piped up.

“I THINK IT’S A GREAT PLAN, SANS! I CAN’T WAIT TO SAVE HIM!” Sans gave his brother a smile, and Alphys, Undyne, and Frisk nodded. It seemed as though there was no turning back now.

 

Alphys spent the next few hours trying in vain to do her homework, her mind always wandering back to the dark and foreboding forest. She spent her time in the Ravenclaw common room, crumpling up countless pieces of parchment and discarding them when her handwriting began to shake. Sans passed by her a few times, but didn’t seem to take notice. She was lost in thought again when she heard the common room door open, and the pounding of footsteps as three pairs of feet raced towards her.

“Hey, Alphys!” Alphys looked up to see Undyne, Papyrus, Frisk, Mettablook, and Napstablook standing in front of her.

“Wh-what are you guys doing here?” Alphys asked, shoving her most recent parchment into the trash with the others.

 

“oh, good. you guys got my text.” Sans was walking down the stairs, and gave the others a wave.

“Of course! We’d never pass up a chance to help Alphys!” Mettablook proclaimed. The others nodded.

“H-help me? I’m f-fine!” Alphys protested.

“alphys, you’ve been looking over the same book for three hours, and you usually finish all your work within one. i figured that you were worried about the expedition, so i invited these guys over to practice jinxes in our dorm room.” Sans explained with a grin.

“Th-thanks, guys…” Alphys replied with a hesitant grin.

“Come on!” Undyne took her by the arm and pulled her up the stairs, Alphys’s hand in one of hers and a training dummy in the other.

 

* * *

 

 

“Come on, hex that dummy!” Undyne cheered her on, pumping her fists in the air. The dummy was thoroughly burned and mangled at this point, but Undyne apparently thought it hadn’t earned its reprieve yet.

“YES, ALPHYS! YOU CAN DO IT!” Papyrus called out.

“Excellent form, darling!” Mettablook praised, doing a little twirl.

“nice…” Napstablook mumbled. Frisk held up a sign that read “10/10”. Alphys raised her wand.

“Stupefy!” The hex hit the dummy square in the head, and it toppled backwards.

“good job.” Sans spoke with a nod. “but i’m afraid we’ll have to wrap this up. it’s time.” It was dark out. Alphys hadn’t even noticed. She gulped and pocketed her wand, following Sans and the others out of the room and down the stairs. They made their way through the deserted halls, coming to a stop outside a painting of a forest.

 

“What are we doing here?” Mettablook asked. Alphys had to say that she was confused as well. Sans grinned, knocked three times on the bottom of the frame, then stepped through the painting. Alphys and Mettablook gasped, while Undyne simply laughed.

“Nice one, Sans!” She declared, before jumping through herself. Everyone else followed suit. Sans had lit up his wand with the Lumos spell, and led them down a dark, sloping passage. After some time, they ascended a set of stairs, and after knocking three times on the ceiling, he doused his wand and a section of the ceiling moved to the side. They climbed out of the hole to find themselves in the very edge of the forbidden forest, the castle still clearly in sight but partially blocked by some trees. Once the last person had left the tunnel, the boulder that had been hiding it moved back into place.

 

“Alright. Here’s where we split off. Everyone knows the signal?” Everyone nodded, though to be fair, the signal was just to scream as loud as possible. They figured that they might as well not make it subtle. They nodded resolutely, then split apart. Undyne lit up her wand, and Alphys did the same. They made their way through the forest carefully, not saying much, though Alphys stuck to Undyne’s side like glue. She stumbled several times, then got frightened by the sounds that resulted. Undyne never got exasperated though, remaining patient the whole way. At one point, Alphys was sticking so close to the fish monster that Undyne simply reached out and took her hand. That made the lizard feel a lot better.

 

Undyne was right—aside from a few massive cobwebs looming out of the shadows, they didn’t have much to worry about. The biggest scare was when there was a loud rustling noise, and several thuds, like footsteps, right in front of them. Undyne froze, and Alphys stopped, too. She couldn’t see anything, but Undyne’s eye was trained on something right in front of them. Then, there were more footsteps, and Undyne let out a sigh.

“Just a thestral.” She muttered, squeezing Alphys’s hand to reassure her.

“What’s that?” Alphys asked. Undyne shook her head.

“Never mind. Let’s just keep moving.”

 

They walked farther and farther. Sans had navigated them to a point of the forest where they would only have to walk in one direction to get to their location, but even so, Alphys was afraid that they’d gotten lost until she spotted a dim sliver of light in the distance. As they approached it, she saw that it seemed to be coming from underneath a door. But, as they got closer, it made less sense. The door was set inside a small hill, which didn’t make any sense. Was there a house underneath the door? If so, why was Gaster in it?

 

“Wh-what do we d-do?” Alphys whispered. Undyne shrugged, then let go of Alphys’s hand, motioning for her to hide behind a nearby tree. Undyne ran up to the door and knocked loudly on it. The light quickly went out, but nothing else happened. After a few moments, Undyne ran back to Alphys.

“That didn’t work.”

“Wh-what next?” Alphys asked nervously. Undyne grinned.

“We break in.” They walked over to a few feet in front of the door, then aimed their wands at the door. “Ready?” Undyne asked. Alphys nodded nervously.

“STUPEFY!” They shouted at the same time. The door flew off of its hinges and into the dark interior of the hill. Undyne lit her wand again, charging forward, with Alphys nervously following. They were barely inside when a figure loomed out of the darkness.

 

It was clearly Professor Gaster, but something was wrong. There was a deep crack from the top of his skull to one of his eye sockets, and another crack from the other socket to his mouth. Not only that, but his face almost looked partially melted, frozen in a twisted sort of smile. Alphys screamed, flashes of other melted faces coming to her mind’s eye. She felt her breath come in stuttering gasps, and all she knew was that she had to get away, as fast as possible. She turned and ran as fast as she could, back into the trees until she tripped over a rock and landed hard on her hands.

 

“Alphys!” She heard Undyne call out. She heard footsteps pounding behind her, but didn’t want to look up from the ground in case she was reminded again. Alphys knew she was having a panic attack, and Undyne seemed to recognize the gasps and panicked movements.

“It’s okay Alphys. Just breathe.” Undyne’s voice was a little shaky, apparently shaken by the appearance of Gaster and Alphys’s quick flight from the hill. Once Alphys had recovered from her panic attack, she lapsed into sobs.

“Are you okay, Alphys? Are you hurt?” Undyne asked, eye widening as she took Alphys’s hands to check for scratches.

 

“I-I’m so useless…” Alphys sobbed. Every time she tried to escape from the past, it just got tossed back in her face. Shyren’s sister, and now Gaster. The melting forms couldn’t be left behind. Undyne’s grip tightened.

“No you’re not, Alphys.” Undyne replied, a little more emphatic that usual.

“I-I c-can’t do anything right, and I c-can’t stop m-messing everything up, and I c-can’t stop f-freaking out, and I’m j-just h-holding you back!” Alphys replied, tears streaming down her face.

“No, Alphys, you’re not!” Undyne answered, a panicked tone to her voice.

“I c-can’t undo wh-what I d-did! You’d be b-better off if I was d-dead!” At that last statement, Undyne’s eye widened, and she swept Alphys up into a tight hug.

 

“Don’t say that!” Undyne was almost yelling at this point, and Alphys could feel that she was shaking. If Alphys had been any more calm, she would have realized that Undyne seemed uncharacteristically afraid, uncharacteristically panicked. Her grip was so tight, though, that it was constricting Alphys’s breathing.

“Undyne…you’re h-hurting me…” She didn’t expect her words to have such an immediate effect on Undyne. The fish monster recoiled as though she had been burned, jumping to her feet.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry—I—“ She began backing up, and Alphys could have sworn that she saw tears in her eyes before Undyne turned around and began sprinting away, pushing past Sans and Papyrus, who had just arrived on the scene. Sans looked at the spot in the trees where Undyne had been, then back to Alphys.

 

“what happened here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am blown away by the fact that this story has received over 100 kudos! Thank you all so much! It really means a lot to me, and I appreciate the support of each and every one of you! Thank you very much. If you liked the chapter, please leave a comment! I really appreciate it. And, of course, if you have any constructive criticism, I would love to hear that too.  
> As usual, thank you for reading and have a great day.


	13. A Bad Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne's gone, and Sans and Alphys discover something they probably shouldn't have.

The rest of the night was a blur. Sans and Papyrus immediately called for help, and before long, the place was crawling with school officials. Upon noticing that she was crying and on the ground, Alphys was immediately whisked to the hospital wing, despite the fact that she wasn’t hurt. She was essentially incoherent as the blue rabbit monster nurse looked over her, trying to tell them to go look for Undyne, but he clearly didn’t understand what she was trying to say. She had almost given up after a half an hour. She was so tired, and Gaster’s melted form kept on flashing in her mind.

 

“I’m sure that Undyne will come to visit you later, okay?” The rabbit said in a reassuring tone. Alphys shook her head, trying to explain. Her words felt thick in her mouth, partially because of the calming draught he had given her, and partially because she was so, so tired.

“No…She’s not here, you have to…have to find her…” Her eyes began to droop closed, and after a few more moments, she fell into a deep sleep. Maybe it was that draught the nurse gave her, but her sleep was entirely dreamless. By the time she blinked her eyes open, sunlight was filtering through the hospital window, illuminating the hulking figure of Asgore Dreemurr sitting next to her bed, reading a book. He closed it the moment he saw she was awake, smiling kindly at her.

 

“Did you have a good sleep?” He asked politely. Alphys nodded shakily, looking around the room. “Your friends were here earlier. Doubtless they’ll be back before long. But until then, I’m sure you have some questions for me.” Alphys rubbed her eyes, sitting up.

“Wh-where’s Undyne?” Asgore’s face fell, and he took a steaming cup of tea from the nightstand, offering it to her. Alphys shook her head, and he sighed, taking a sip out of it himself.

“She’s safe. With the help of your friend’s map, we managed to track her down before long. But…she will likely not be attending classes for the next few days.” Alphys’s heart sank down into her stomach.

“Is it what I said to her? I didn’t mean to make her upset, I don’t even know what I did, I just…”

 

Asgore raised one of his massive hands in a quieting gesture.

“She has made it clear to me that it was not your fault. Undyne is determined. She will be back on her feet soon enough.” Alphys wasn’t exactly satisfied with that answer—it didn’t seem like much would be capable of keeping Undyne down at all, especially for several days, but Asgore seemed to get sadder and sadder the more he talked, so she decided to switch gears.

“What about Gaster?”

“He has been transferred to St. Mungo’s. He says that he fell down, then woke up in that laboratory. We have not found a substitute potions teacher yet. He says that he would like to thank you and the others for finding him, as he had no idea where he was.” Alphys sighed. Well, that wasn’t terrible. But if that was the case, how had he gotten there, and why was he melted?

 

“We appreciate your help in finding him. Well, that’s an understatement. You basically found him for us. And we are sorry for not listening to you more closely. However, you still broke school rules by going out at night, and into the forbidden forest of all places. So you and your friends have detention for two weeks. You will be sorting files in the library. Also, Sans’s map has been confiscated.” Alphys was sure that Sans couldn’t be too happy about all that. Just as she thought that, Sans, Mettablook, Papyrus, and Napstablook burst through the door. Asgore chuckled.

“Well, I won’t keep your friends waiting. I’ll tell Undyne you were thinking of her. She says that she hopes that you’re alright.” He stood up, gave her a farewell wave, then left the room as Alphys’s friends assembled next to her bed.

 

“Alphys, darling! How are you? We were so worried when we heard that you had been taken to the hospital wing!” Mettablook asked, concern written all over his face.

“i made you a mixtape…but apparently you’re being released right now…so you won’t have to listen to it in bed…if you want to listen to it at all…” Napstablook mumbled, placing a CD on her nightstand.

“i’m glad to see that you’re alright. i wouldn’t want to have to get a new roomie, after all.” Sans commented with his standard goofy grin.

“I BROUGHT YOU SOME SPAGHETTI FROM THE GREAT HALL! I HAVE HEARD THAT HOSPITAL FOOD DOES NOT TASTE GOOD, SO I ADDED SOME TOPPINGS!” Papyrus slammed down a plate of spaghetti onto her nightstand, almost tipping over the now empty teacup. Alphys thought that it had been garnished with parmesan and tomato sauce, but upon closer examination, it was covered in powdered sugar and ketchup.

 

“Th-thanks, guys. I r-really appreciate it.” Alphys stuttered in response, smiling.

 

The rest of the day was spent discussing the aftermath of what happened. Sans and Papyrus seemed to just be happy that Gaster was okay, but Mettablook and Napstablook were more worried about what would happen to the school. Apparently the Daily Prophet had already gotten wind of it. Alphys was just worried about what had happened to Undyne.

The next day, Alphys didn’t see Undyne at all. Even though Asgore had told her to expect this, it still gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach. When all of them (including Mettablook and Napstablook—they had been punished for staying out after curfew) gathered in the library for their detention, Alphys couldn’t help but ask.

 

“S-so, have any of you guys seen Undyne?” She asked hesitantly as she pulled out a box of records. Everyone shook their heads.

“I’M SURE UNDYNE IS FINE! SHE’S TOUGH! SHE LOVES TO EAT ROCKS!” Papyrus exclaimed.

“what my brother means to say is, there’s no point worrying about it. undyne’s no wimp. she’ll be on her feet soon enough.” Sans replied, lazily flicking his wand. Several sheets of paper floated in the air in front of him, and with a few more twirls of his wand, they soared into their correct positions.

 

Despite this, after two more days of radio silence from the fish monster, Alphys was getting worried. Had Undyne really been that upset by her comment? What was going on? Alphys wished that Sans had his marauders map still, so he could tell her where she was. Had she gone home? Had she gotten hurt, and was she possibly in St. Mungo’s right now? Hundreds of thoughts raced through Alphys’s head, some rational, most not. During detention, it was pretty clear that she couldn’t really think of anything else. Everyone tried to distract her, but it didn’t work very well. She couldn’t focus very much on filing, until Mettablook piped up near the end of their detention.

 

“Hey everyone, check out this file!” He held up (could ghosts really hold anything up? It was hard to tell sometimes) a manila folder with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement’s seal stamped on it. “Why would something like this be in Hogwarts records?” He wondered aloud, as everyone crowded around to see it.

“Th-that’s Undyne’s name on it, isn’t it?” Alphys asked, pointing to the flap. Mettablook gasped.

“Right you are!” Mettablook seemed to be torn about opening it, and Alphys gently took it away, much to his chagrin.

“I’ll t-take this to Asgore. He’ll know what t-to d-do with it.” The lizard decided. Sans nodded.

“i’ll come with you.” They strode out of the library, Alphys walking at a bit of a faster pace than usual, nervous about the contents of the folder. However, as they were walking to the empty great hall, Alphys tripped, and the folder fell on the floor, scattering its contents all over the hallway.

“Oh no…”Alphys mumbled, bending down to pick up the mess. However, her hand stopped over a newspaper clipping.

 

_FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED IN DOUBLE MURDER, CHILD ACCUSED_

“Wh-what?” Alphys asked aloud, and Sans walked over to where she was standing. He picked up the article and began reading it aloud.

“a tragic event occurred today in the streets of downtown waterfallvale today, when a monster mother and her daughter were walking home late at night. in what appears to be a mugging gone wrong, the human mugger and monster mother were left dead, while the child was left injured. after looking over the scene, the police suspect that the mother was killed first, and then the child took the assaulter’s knife and stabbed them. the case is still under review, and there are still several questions, as the wounds on the mugger do not line up with the knife used, yet no other weapons were found at the scene.”

Alphys was left speechless, unsure of what to say. Sans walked over to another newspaper clipping.

 

“today the child in the waterfallvale double murder case will go on trial. the child’s name, which has not been released, stands accused of murdering a human mugger. the child, who was left blinded in one eye from the attack, was not available for comment, nor was their father or their defense attorneys.”

Alphys stood there for a moment, in shock. Sans gathered up the rest of the papers and put them in the manila folder, speechless. He nudged her gently, and they began walking again.

“You…you d-don’t think she actually did it, d-do you?” Alphys asked nervously as they walked. Sans was quiet for a few moments.

 

“alphys, the first time undyne met papyrus, she almost stabbed him with one of her spears.” Alphys gasped.

“Wh-what?!” She exclaimed. Sans nodded grimly.

“yep. papyrus heard that there was a new kid in town around his age, and was determined to be her friend. apparently she didn’t respond to him much, and he kept on talking to her until eventually she hurled a spear at him. it missed, thankfully. i was furious when I heard, but apparently she cried for almost 20 straight minutes afterward, and when i finally got to meet her, they were basically best friends. i never forgot that, though after hanging out with her for so long, i eventually forgave her. still…”

Alphys gulped.

“You don’t mean…”

“she almost killed papyrus. it’s not unreasonable to suggest that she killed whoever this was.”

 

They walked together in silence up to Asgore and Toriel’s office, where Sans knocked on the door. Asgore opened it, and, upon taking one look at the file in his hand, grabbed it immediately. He took a look at their expressions, and frowned.

“You’ve seen what’s in this, I presume?” They nodded. Asgore sighed wearily.

“I don’t want you to think any less of Undyne for this. She is not a murderer. But please, please, do not tell anyone what you’ve seen. If Undyne wants you to know what happened, she’ll tell you herself. But please don’t bring it up to her. She…she didn’t deserve what happened.” Asgore sighed, reaching up with his free hand to rub his face. Alphys noticed that he had bags under his eyes. This Gaster debacle had likely kept him up for days. However, after a moment, he straightened up, fixing them both with a stern glare.

“I would like to trust you kids, but know this: If I hear that this gets out, then you two will be in deep, deep trouble. The deepest trouble I can possibly cause for you, because I refuse to put her through another media circus again. Do I make myself clear?” They both nodded once more.

“Good. Now, it’s getting late. You two should head off to bed.”

Sans and Alphys left without another word. They walked up to Ravenclaw tower in silence, not sure what to say to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was that! I hope you guys liked this week's chapter. Thank you as always for all the amazing support I've received for this fic! You guys are great. If you liked the chapter, please leave a comment! And, if you have any constructive criticism for me, please tell me that as well.  
> As usual, thank you for reading, and have a great day!


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